The primary investment objective of the Fund is to deliver a positive absolute return over the medium to long term in all market conditions. The Fund is actively managed, with a wide investment remit to target a level of return over rolling three-year periods equivalent to cash plus 5% per year, before charges. We would expect it to exhibit annualised volatility of between 4% and 8% in ordinary market conditions or, more broadly, between one-third and a half of the risk of global equities. The fund is actively managed, with a wide investment remit to target a level of return over rolling three-year periods equivalent to cash plus five per-cent a year, gross of fees. It exploits market inefficiencies through active allocation to a diverse range of market positions. The fund uses a combination of traditional assets (such as equities and bonds) and investment strategies based on advanced derivative techniques, resulting in a highly diversified portfolio. The fund can take long and short positions in markets, securities and groups of securities through derivative contracts.
The abrdn Global Absolute Return Strategies Fund returned -1.52% during the month (net of fees).
Top performers this month included the global equity zero hunger strategy, as its long basket has a growth bias in comparison to the defensive short bias of the Consumer Staples Index. This strategy benefitted from the risk-on rally in January. Secondly, given the risk-on theme, our US duration position also performed well, with US treasuries posting gains of 2.8%. Our ASEAN versus North Asia foreign exchange position contributed positively this month, particularly driven by the outperformance of the Thai baht and Singapore dollar currencies. This was due to China’s reopening, which had a spillover effect and was a key boost for the tourism industry in Thailand. Our short corporate risk positions were some of the worst performers this month. Our outright short European and US equity strategies underperformed. Our equity relative-value strategies underperformed, including our US equity low volatility index versus US equity strategy and our stable quality versus market strategy.
What is Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats is an Managed Funds investment product that is benchmarked against Credit Suisse AllHedge Global Macro Index and sits inside the Alternatives - Macro Index. Think of a benchmark as a standard where investment performance can be measured. Typically, market indices like the ASX200 and market-segment stock indexes are used for this purpose. The Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats has Assets Under Management of 44.90 M with a management fee of 1.17%, a performance fee of 0.00% and a buy/sell spread fee of 0.79%.
How has the investment product performed recently?
The recent investment performance of the investment product shows that the Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats has returned 0.16% in the last month. The previous three years have returned -1.12% annualised and 4.44% each year since inception, which is when the Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats first started.
How is risk measured in this investment product?
There are many ways that the risk of an investment product can be measured, and each measurement provides a different insight into the risk present. They can be used on their own or together to perform a risk assessment before investing, but when comparing investments, it is common to compare like for like risk measurements to determine which investment holds the most risk. Since Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats first started, the Sharpe ratio is 0.51 with an annualised volatility of 4.44%. The maximum drawdown of the investment product in the last 12 months is -9.04% and -10.97% since inception. The maximum drawdown is defined as the high-to-low decline of an investment during a particular time period.
What is the relative performance of the investment product?
Relative performance is what an asset achieves over a period of time compared to similar investments or its peers. Relative return is a measure of the asset's performance compared to the return to the other investment. The Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats has a 12-month excess return when compared to the Alternatives - Macro Index of -8.71% and 0.22% since inception.
Does the investment product produce Alpha over its Peers?
Alpha is an investing term used to measure an investment's outperformance relative to a market benchmark or peer investment. Alpha describes the excess return generated when compared to peer investment. Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats has produced Alpha over the Alternatives - Macro Index of -0.74% in the last 12 months and 0% since inception.
What are similar investment products?
For a full list of investment products in the Alternatives - Macro Index category, you can click here for the Peer Investment Report.
What level of diversification will Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats provide?
Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats has a correlation coefficient of 0.73 and a beta of 0.46 when compared to the Alternatives - Macro Index. Correlation measures how similarly two investments move in relation to one another. This establishes a 'correlation coefficient', which has a value between -1.0 and +1.0. A 100% correlation between two investments means that the correlation coefficient is +1. Beta in investments measures how much the price moves relative to the broader market over a period of time. If the investment moves more than the broader market, it has a beta above 1.0. If it moves less than the broader market, then the beta is less than 1.0. Investments with a high beta tend to carry more risk but have the potential to deliver higher returns.
How do I compare the investment product with its peers?
For a full quantitative report on Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats and its peer investments, you can click here for the Peer Investment Report.
How do I compare the Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats with the Credit Suisse AllHedge Global Macro Index?
For a full quantitative report on Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats compared to the Credit Suisse AllHedge Global Macro Index, you can click here.
Can I sort and compare the Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats to do my own analysis?
To sort and compare the Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats financial metrics, please refer to the table above.
Has the Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats been independently verified by SMSF Mate?
This investment product is in the process of being independently verified by SMSF Mate. Once we have verified the investment product, you will be able to find more information here.
How can I invest in Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats?
If you or your self managed super fund would like to invest in the Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats please contact Level 10, 255 George Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000 via phone +61 02 9950 2888 or via email client.service.aust@aberdeenstandard.com.
How do I get in contact with the Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats?
If you would like to get in contact with the Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats manager, please call +61 02 9950 2888.
Comments from SMSF Mates
SMSF Mate does not receive commissions or kickbacks from the Aberdeen Std Global Absolute Ret Strats. All data and commentary for this fund is provided free of charge for our readers general information.
Performance Commentary - December 31, 2022 The abrdn Global Absolute Return Strategies Fund returned 2.96% during the month (net of fees).
December was a strong month for our short corporate risk and defensive positions due to the market sell-off. Our short equity strategies performed particularly well, including the US equity low volatility index versus US equity strategy, the long US investment-grade corporate bond versus short equity strategy and the short European equity strategy, which all benefitted from a short growth bias compared to the wider equity market. Secondly, our US versus Italian rates position was one of the top performers, as Italian inflation and confidence indicators surprised to the upside (implying that the economy is experiencing overheating pressures) while the reverse continued in the US. Our long favoured defensive foreign-exchange position benefitted this month, particularly the long Japanese yen position, given the announcement from the BoJ on the changing of its YCC target. One of our poorest performing strategies was our global equity stable quality versus market strategy, given the broad sell-off across equity markets. Our duration positions also underperformed, as bonds sold off in the US. We have since closed our US steepener position.
Performance Commentary - November 30, 2022 The abrdn Global Absolute Return Strategies Fund returned -1.48% during the month (net of fees).
The Fund’s positioning reflects what we see as a challenging period ahead for markets. At present, the rhetoric around inflation and central bank tightening is dominating market dynamics. This is a theme we expect to evolve as the focus moves to the consequence of weaker growth. Against this backdrop, we have positioned the Fund to take advantage of tightening financial conditions into slower growth via defensive positions in relative-value strategies and a bias towards short corporate-risk positions. In addition, we maintain longs in the US dollar, although we reduced this position in November, and long positions in developedmarket government bonds.
Our ASEAN versus North Asia foreignexchange strategy was the top performer this month. It was driven by strength in the Singapore dollar due to intervention from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and China’s drive for economic equality and domestic security. Our long corporate-risk positions in global equity stable quality versus the market and contingent capital bonds performed well this month given the risk-on environment, as inflation momentum slowed and there was more supportive messaging from the Fed. The commodity carry strategy was also a top performer during the month, and we have recently taken profits from this strategy. Following the risk-on theme, our short corporate-risk trades were the biggest detractors this month, including short European equity, US equity low volatility versus US equity and short high yield. Similarly, our long favoured defensive foreign-exchange strategy underperformed due to the continued weakness in the US dollar. We have now slightly reduced our overall Fund exposure to the US dollar.
Performance Commentary - October 31, 2022 The abrdn Global Absolute Return Strategies Fund returned -1.50% during the month (net of fees). The benchmark Bloomberg AusBond Bank Bill Index returned 0.24% during this period.
The Fund’s positioning reflects what we see as a challenging period ahead for markets. At present, the rhetoric around inflation and central bank tightening is dominating market dynamics. This is a theme we expect to evolve as the focus moves to the consequence of weaker growth. Against this backdrop, we have positioned the Fund to take advantage of tightening financial conditions into slower growth via defensive positions in relative-value strategies and a bias towards short corporate-risk positions. In addition, we maintain longs in the US dollar and developed-market government bonds.
Our ASEAN versus North Asia foreignexchange strategy was the top performer this month, driven by strength in the Singapore dollar due to intervention from the Monetary Authority of Singapore while growth and political concerns weighed on China. The UK versus emerging-marketequity relative-value strategy contributed positively, as a more supportive market interpretation of central bank tightening and some stabilisation in UK politics helped the UK equity market relative to emergingmarket equities. While sterling remained weak against historic levels, the reversal of the majority of the UK government’s mini-Budget benefitted the pound; as a result, our short sterling foreign-exchange strategy contributed negatively this month. Furthermore, our short equity relativevalue strategies, including our long US investment-grade corporate-bond versus short equity strategy and our US equity low-volatility versus US equity strategy were negatively affected by the strong equity performance on the back of speculation that the Fed may start to pivot. Our global equity zero hunger basket benefitted from this strength in equities and contributed positively as a result.
Performance Commentary - September 30, 2022 The abrdn Global Absolute Return Strategies Fund returned 0.16% during the month (net of fees). The benchmark Bloomberg AusBond Bank Bill Index returned 0.15% during this period.
The Fund’s positioning reflects what we see as a challenging period ahead for markets. At present, fears around inflation and central bank tightening are dominating market dynamics. This is a theme we expect to evolve as the focus moves to the consequences of rising interest rates and weaker growth. As a result, we expect risk premia to rise across all assets. Against this backdrop, we maintain our defensive positions in relative-value strategies and continue to favour short corporate risk positions. We expect earnings to weaken going forward. In addition, we maintain longs in the US dollar and developedmarket government bonds.
Our UK versus emerging-market-equity relative-value strategy was the top performer this month. Its performance was helped by the significant drop in sterling given the market turmoil following the Chancellor’s mini-Budget announcement. This also benefitted our short sterling currency position. Our other currency strategies were also among the top performers this month; these included our long-favoured defensive currency strategy and our long US dollar versus Chinese renminbi strategy, which benefitted particularly from the continued rally in the US dollar given the monetary tightening environment, as investors flocked to safe-haven markets. The dollar rally also exacerbated the downside on sterling, further benefitting our short positions. Our biggest detractors this month were our duration strategies, which included our European real yields and US steepener positions, as concerns over the rate-hiking paths continued. During the month, we moderately reduced our duration exposure. Lastly, some of our strategies that were exposed to corporate risk underperformed, such as our long US investment-grade corporate-bond versus short equity strategy and our global equity zero hunger strategy.
Performance Commentary - August 31, 2022 The abrdn Global Absolute Return Strategies Fund returned -1.13% during the month (net of fees). The benchmark Bloomberg AusBond Bank Bill Index returned 0.15% during this period.
The Fund’s positioning reflects what we see as a challenging period ahead for markets. At present, fears around inflation and central bank tightening are dominating market dynamics. This is a theme we expect to evolve as the focus moves to the consequences of rising interest rates and weaker growth. As a result, we expect risk premia to rise across all assets. Against this backdrop, we maintain our defensive positions in relative-value strategies and continue to favour short corporate risk positions. We expect earnings to weaken as we move into the second half of the year. In addition, we maintain longs in the US dollar and in developed-market government bonds.
Our equity relative-value trades and our short corporate risk trades performed well. Our positions in US equity low volatility versus US equity, global equity zero hunger and short high-yield corporate bonds were all among the top performers. Our short position in sterling foreign exchange also performed well, as inflation continued to soar in the UK in conjunction with the worsening energy crisis and growing recession fears. Our interest-rate strategies were the biggest detractors, which included our US duration, European real yields and US steepener strategies. Markets have been pricing more aggressive hiking cycles, as inflation continues to rise across developed markets, leading us to diversify our duration exposure. However, we believe that the market is underestimating the timing and magnitude of easing once growth starts to slow materially
Performance Commentary - July 31, 2022 The abrdn Global Absolute Return Strategies Fund returned -1.30% during the month (net of fees). The benchmark Bloomberg AusBond Bank Bill Index returned 0.12% during this period.
The Fund positioning reflects what we see as a challenging period ahead for markets. At present, fears around inflation and central bank tightening are dominating market dynamics, a theme we expect to shift as the focus moves to the consequence of weaker growth. As a result, we expect risk premia to rise across all assets. Against this backdrop, we maintain our defensive positions in relative-value strategies and continue to favour short corporate risk positions. We expect earnings to weaken as we move into the second half of the year. In addition, we maintain longs in the US dollar and developed government bonds.
Within our fixed-income exposures, our US interest-rate position has been a strong performer, driven by the decline in US 10-year government bond yields, as the economic outlook continues to deteriorate (this was the biggest monthly decline since August 2019). Similarly, we saw our Australian interest-rate strategy benefit from the sharp drop in yields; we have since exited this strategy after its strong performance. The UK versus emerging-markets (EM) equity relative-value strategy contributed positively, as the UK benefitted from the rebound in developedmarket (DM) equities while EM equities remained weak. Our US equity low volatility index versus the US market was the biggest detractor this month, along with our positions in Asian markets, including our Asia high-yield, short Japanese government bonds and Chinese versus DM equity strategies. This was driven by the negative move in Chinese markets, with the Covid-19 resurgence and fines and scrutiny for key technology giants weighing on investor sentiment in the region
Performance Commentary - June 30, 2022 The abrdn Global Absolute Return Strategies Fund returned 1.07% during the month (net of fees). The benchmark Bloomberg AusBond Bank Bill Index returned 0.05% during this period.
The Fund positioning reflects what we see as a challenging period ahead for markets. At present, fears around inflation and central bank tightening are dominating market dynamics, a theme we expect to shift as the focus moves to the consequence of weaker growth. As a result, we expect risk premia to rise across all markets. Against this backdrop, we maintain our defensive positions in relative-value strategies and continue to favour short corporate risk positions, as we expect earnings to fall relative to expectations. In addition, we maintain longs in the US dollar and developed government bonds. Our top contributor this month was a short European equity exposure, which performed well, as global equities sold off. Our long US investment-grade credit versus short equity and our US equity low volatility versus market relative-value strategies also contributed, although the UK versus emerging market relative-value position detracted from performance. The portfolio’s Australian interest-rate position was the largest detractor. In foreign currency positions, our long defensive foreign exchange basket contributed positively this month, significantly affected by strong US dollar performance.
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