To view the full Affluence Investment Fund Update – April 2017 in pdf format, click here.
In April the ASX 200 increased by 1.0%, 17.8% over 12 months and 5.8% per annum over 2 years. Over these same periods the Affluence Investment Fund increased by 0.5% in April, 11.1% over 12 months and 9.7% per annum over 2 years. Since inception in December 2014 the Fund has returned 9.8% per annum, ahead of the benchmark (inflation plus 5%) of 6.8% per annum and the ASX 200 of 9.3% per annum.
Our strong contributors this month were the Brookfield Prime Property Fund (BPA) (up 14.8%), Bronte Capital Amalthea Fund (up 7%) and the India Avenue Equity Fund (up 5.1%). There were no major detractors this month, however results were fairly choppy across the board, as the trend of the ASX 20 stocks continuing to dominate the markets performance continues.
During April we topped up on a number of investments, including the Phoenix Opportunities Fund, Ophir High Conviction Fund, Bronte Amalthea Fund, Affluence LIC Fund and the Ellerston GEMS Fund. The Phoenix Opportunities Fund has been in the Fund since inception, and has had exceptionally good results. The manager has now soft closed the Fund. We currently hold investments in six funds that are either soft or hard closed to new investment. While this can cause us some inconvenience as we can’t continue to invest additional amounts, we believe it is the sign of a good manager when they acknowledge they would prefer to focus on performance rather than to continue to raise money and then underperform.
As local and global equity markets remain elevated, commercial property transactions continue to get more expensive, and interest rates remain near cyclical lows, we are focusing our efforts on making the Fund’s portfolio as resilient as possible for a wide range of eventualities (potential large increases or decreases). At month end, 61% of the Fund was investment in unlisted investments, 20% in the Affluence LIC Fund, 6% in other listed investments, and 13% in cash.
An investment in the Affluence Investment Fund will provide you with access to over 25 unlisted funds, and over 20 LIC’s and other listed entities. If you’d like further details of the Affluence Investment Fund portfolio at any time, just email us and we’ll provide it to you.
If you would like to invest with us and get access to a diverse range of Australia’s best fund managers, we encourage you to utilise our online application facility. Just follow the link on our website. If you’d like to add to your existing investment, you can either complete the one-page form available on our website, or use the online facility. A reminder the cut-off for this month’s applications is 25th May.
