Monash Investors
Small Companies Fund

 

Become an investor

The Monash Investors Small Companies Fund (Fund) is an unlisted retail unit trust offering investors an Australian equity exposure with a strategy of outperforming the S&P ASX Small Ordinaries Total Return Index over the medium term (5yrs).

The Fund has been in operation since July 2012, and over this time after all fees has outperformed the Index by approximately 4% per annum and deliver an average total return of approximately 10% per annum.

This fund is appropriate for investors with “High” and “Very High” risk and return profiles. A suitable investor for this fund is prepared to accept high risk in the pursuit of capital growth with a medium to long investment timeframe. Investors should refer to the TMD for further information.

 

Current Unit Price

Latest Monthly Report

Monthly Performance Report: January 2025

The Monash Investors Small Companies Fund had a strong month, up 3.5% and slightly under the Small Ordinaries which rose 4.6%. While numbers clearly can move around substantially in the short term, we’re pleased to report a strong 12-month return at 15.5%, generating outperformance in-line with both what we would hope to achieve over time, as well as what we’ve actually delivered.

We’ve really been emphasising in recent times the enhancements made to the Fund, and we continue to see the benefits of these flowing through. Over the past two years, the Fund has progressively evolved, first, by moving to cap cash at 10%. We’re targeting being as fully invested as possible across the many very prospective opportunities we face. Second, we’ve broadened the portfolio’s exposures, reducing slightly the bet size on our highest conviction holdings in order to free up capital and cast the net a little wider. This is partly about risk management, and partly simply the practicalities of managing capital when we do have so many attractive opportunities. Finally, as we re-double our focus and efforts into what’s really moved the needle over time, we’ve eliminated shorting from the portfolio (nearly a year ago now). These enhancements, we believe, reduce the risk profile of the Fund while not giving up any expected return. In fact, when it comes to smaller companies investing, casting one’s net just a little wider as we have can give us a greater chance of capturing outsized returns from occasional multi-baggers and potentially increase expected overall portfolio returns. We believe investors are starting to see the benefits of the enhancements over the past year or two coming through in our numbers.

Commentary
January is a typically quiet month in markets. Despite increasing global geopolitical uncertainty as Trump takes the reins in the US, investors remain enthused. Locally, the Australian market was broadly strong with both large and smaller companies increasing. Nothing went too wrong for us over the month, with our largest detractors being RPMGlobal which fell 9% and cost us 20bps, and Peninsula Energy which was down 14% to cost us 30bps. RPMGlobal drifted on no news, handing back some of its recent gains ahead of its next set of results. Peninsula however declined on the back of fresh production hiccups as the company re-starts and seeks to ramp production at their Wyoming uranium mine. Aside from the mine-specific issues, the uranium sector has been strong with our holding in Paladin up 18% and contributing 60bps to performance.

Other strong contributors included auto stalwart Eagers Automotive which rose 9% to contribute 40bps. Eagers is by far the largest auto dealer in Australasia, enjoys considerable scale benefit, and operates across multiple auto verticals including new and used car sales, parts, service, finance & insurance. Its business model and value-add are underpinned by a significant portfolio of strategic real estate which they occupy. Catapult Group continued its ascent, rising another 9% and adding 40bps. We’ve allowed Catapult to grow untouched in the portfolio, rising from a modest 1.5% position size to become a top-5 holding at over 4% weight. Catapult is a good example of the benefit of taking a slightly broader approach, casting the net a little wider, and allowing successful investments to grow in importance within the portfolio while still maintaining prudent position sizing limitations and risk controls.

Finally, our stand-out contributors this month were our pharma/biotech holdings: Opthea and Telix. Telix has been a long held holding for the Fund, and is a top holding. Long time readers of our reports will be well across our thesis here. The company had an eventful January with a number of positive developments helping drive its shares up 19% to contribute 1% to performance. First, it announced the acquisition of a bundle of next-gen therapeutic candidates, a biologics tech platform, and research facility, further building out its drug pipeline and innovation capabilities. It also completed its previously-announced acquisition of a radiopharmacy network. It announced the European approval of its principal product, prostate imaging agent Illuccix. This is an important milestone in along the pathway to full global commercialisation of this product. These fundamental developments were topped off with a revenue announcement ahead of prior guidance. Telix continues its global growth journey and remains on track to become a truly great Australian success.

Thematically quite similar to Telix though at a much earlier stage, Opthea rose 41% to contribute 90bps over the month. Opthea is in the advanced stages of developing life-changing vision improvement treatments for certain forms of Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). Both ASX and NASDAQ-listed, Opthea has been growing in value ahead of moving into commercialisation phase as trials show extremely promising results implying the potential for a blockbuster product in a large addressable market. In addition to doing a great job developing its products, the company is  communicating effectively with the market, and the strong share price support following recent Investor Days in the US and Australia bode well.

December Monthly Re-Cap
With many off-duty for much of January, we’d like to refer anyone who missed it to last month’s commentary. The report contained significant additional content setting out the broad range of companies we own in the Fund, the market cap breakdown of its constituents (including a nice spread across the various size buckets beneath the ASX-100), together with our outlook for the year ahead for ASX Smaller Companies which we believe to be highly prospective. While we’re enthused about the opportunity set we face, we do also note we believe parts of the market and many individual stocks are quite richly valued. We expect to see a diverse range of outcomes at the individual stock level in the periods ahead, and believe this is very much a stock-picker’s market when looking at the smaller companies set-up for 2025 and beyond. You can access last month’s report here.

Business & Team Update
We’re pleased to report that following the joining of Monash Investors and DMX Asset Management, the merger of the investment research and portfolio management functions for both firms has gone to plan, and individuals’ roles are evolving as had been anticipated when we commenced merger discussions in 2023. At that time, Monash co-founder Simon Shields expressed a preference to work towards a gradual reduction in his day-to-day portfolio management role & responsibilities. Over the past 15 months or so Simon has been working closely in particular with DMX Principal & Portfolio Manager, Michael Haddad, who joined the portfolio management team in January 2024. Through 2024 we’ve focused on a very considered and gradual transition and advise this process has now completed with Michael having assumed Simon’s day-to-day portfolio management responsibilities.

Simon remains an ongoing stakeholder in the success of the Monash Fund, however, and remains involved and engaged in the investment process as an active member of our Investment Committee. We look forward to Simon’s continued engagement, and to continuing to benefit from his experience, perspective and market insights well into the future.

To review full team bios, please visit our website here.

Summary
The entire team are enthused about the set-up for the portfolio from here. Enhancements of the past couple years are bearing fruit. The portfolio is comprised of a broad range of mispriced opportunities across the smaller companies market cap spectrum, and importantly, with different thematics and fundamentals driving them. With many companies having reached inflated valuations in the smaller companies segment, we believe value-conscious investors have a great opportunity to avoid obvious over-valuation and differentiate results by owning the most prospective of companies.

January 2025

Performance of the Fund

(after fees)

Fund Strategy

The Monash Investors Small Companies Fund (ARSN 606 855 50) is a high conviction fund with a strategy of outperforming the S&P ASX Small Company Index over the medium term (5 yrs).

The target universe is Australian Small Companies, defined as all stocks outside the S&P ASX 100 Index.  However, should our research uncover compelling opportunities within the S&P ASX 100 Index, up to 20% of the Fund can be invested there.  When this research uncovers a company likely to suffer material adverse business conditions we have the flexibility to invest up to 20% of the Fund in shorting these opportunities.

The Fund seeks to only invest in compelling opportunities. To identify these investment ideas, Monash Investors primarily employs fundamental, bottom-up company research and the judgement of its experienced portfolio managers.

For all business development enquiries, please contact

Cameron Harris

P. +61 400 248 435
E. cameron@gsmcapital.com.au

 

For all investor enquiries, please contact

Apex Fund Services P: 1300 133 451 or by email at registry@apexgroup.com

Monash Investors Small Companies Fund Registry Services, GPO Box 4968  , Sydney NSW 2001

For all other enquiries

E. contactus@monash-investors

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Current Unit Price and Unit Price History

 

 

To download a complete history of the Unit Price

MAIF FUND FACTS

ENQUIRIES AND COMPLAINTS

The Responsible Entity has established procedures for dealing with complaints. If an investor has a complaint, they can contact the Responsible Entity or the Investment Manager during business hours.

The Responsible Entity will use reasonable endeavours to deal with and resolve the complaint within a reasonable time but in any case, no later than 30 days after receipt of the complaint. Other type of complaints and complex complaints may have a different maximum response timeframe. We will let you know if a different maximum response timeframe will apply to your complaint.

If an Investor is not satisfied with the outcome, the complaint can be referred to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). The AFCA provides a fair and independent financial services complaint resolution service that is free to consumers.

Website: www.afca.org.au

Email: info@afca.org.au

Telephone: 1800 931 678

In writing to: Australian Financial Complains Authority, GPO Box 3, Melbourne VIC 3001

All investors (regardless of whether you hold Units in the Fund directly or hold Units indirectly via a Platform) can access Perpetual’s complaints procedures outlined above. If investing via a Platform and your complaint concerns the operation of the Platform then you should contact the Platform operator directly.

Become an investor

The Trust Company (RE Services) Limited (ABN 45 003 278 831, AFSL 235 150) (Perpetual) is the Responsible Entity of and issuer of units in the Monash Investors Small Companies Fund and Monash Investors Small Companies Trust ASX: MAAT and Monash Investors Pty Ltd (ABN 67 153 180 333 AFSL 417201)(Monash Investors) is the investment manager of the Funds.

Monash Investors issues and operates this website. All opinions and estimates on this website constitute judgements of Monash Investors and are subject to change without notice. The information on this website is provided for general information purposes only, and is not to be construed as solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any financial product. Accordingly reliance should not be placed on this website as the basis for making an investment, financial or other decisions. The information on this website does not take into account your investment objectives, particular needs or financial situation. Whilst every effort is taken to ensure the information on this website is accurate, its accuracy, reliability or completeness is not guaranteed. A product disclosure statement (PDS) and Target Market Determination (TMD) issued by Perpetual is available for the Funds on this website. You should obtain and consider the PDS and TMD before deciding whether to acquire, or continue to hold, an interest in the Funds. Initial applications for units in the Funds can only be made pursuant to the application form attached to the PDS.

Performance figures contained on this Website are not necessarily indicative of future returns and should be used as a general guide only. Returns on investments necessarily are volatile and subject to change and likely to vary from year to year. These returns are likely to vary from year to year. Returns have been calculated using exit prices after taking into account all ongoing fees, and assuming reinvestment of distributions. No allowance has been made for taxation. Future returns may bear no relationship to the historical information displayed. Returns in a Fund can be particularly volatile in the short term and in some periods may be negative. Neither Perpetual nor Monash Investors makes any guarantee or representation in regards to the performance of any of the funds, nor the specific rate of return to investors or the return of capital.

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