The six months to 31 December was a difficult time for LIC portfolios with both domestic and international equity markets suffering large declines. The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 8.8% over that time and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.9% over the same time period. Most of the falls occurred in the December 2018 quarter. We note that most of the falls have since reversed in the early part of calendar 2019

The Manager is a specialist funds manager of alternative investment strategies founded in 2004 with a superior track record in both bull and bear markets with approximately $1.6 billion in funds under management. The Trust will initially provide exposure to five diversified alternative investment strategies managed by Regal.

The Trust will be managed by Perpetual Investment Management Limited (the ‘Manager’) and its highly experienced eight person specialist credit and fixed income team led by Michael Korber. The Trust is based on an unconstrained credit strategy that seeks to generate stable monthly income at a target level equivalent to RBA Cash Rate plus 3.25% p.a. (net of fees), the equivalent of 4.75% p.a. currently.

Pengana Capital Limited, the Manager, will appoint Grosvenor Capital Management L.P. (“Grosvenor” or the “Investment Manager”) to manage the portfolio. Grosvenor is a US based alternative asset manager established in 1971 with in excess of US$52 billion of assets under management (AUM).

The Trust provides investors with a concentrated portfolio of high quality growth companies, selected as the ‘best ideas’ across the small and mid-cap coverage of the Ophir investment team. Specifically, the portfolio comprises 15-30 targeted portfolio positions