Fund description and investment return objective
The Antares Small Companies Fund is an actively managed Australian shares fund designed to enhance returns by investing in a diversified portfolio of Australian small companies.
The Fund’s objective is to outperform the Benchmark by 5% (before fees) per annum over a rolling 5 year period.
Fund commentary
The Antares Small Companies Fund delivered a return of 0.0% (net of fees) for the month of March, outperforming its benchmark index by 1.9%.1
The small companies sector underperformed the broader sharemarket in March, with the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Accumulation Index falling 1.9%. Small industrial stocks performed relatively well whilst small resource stocks fell sharply in response to weaker than expected growth in China and further falls in key commodity prices, particularly iron ore and oil.
The Fund benefited from an overweight position in media monitoring company, iSentia Group (ISD),that performed well after posted a strong 1H15 earnings result. Revenue was up 18% on the previous period and underlying net profit rose 48%. The earnings beat versus expectations was mostly due to strong growth in average revenue per customer in Australia and New Zealand. The Fund’s overweight position in TPG Telecom also performed well. TPG announced an agreed, all cash deal, to acquire its smaller competitor, iiNet, for $8.705 per share, inclusive of iiNet’s declared interim dividend of $0.105 per share fully franked. The Board of iiNet have recommended the offer in the absence of a superior proposal. The deal is expected to be significantly earnings per share accretive for TPG shareholders.
