Aspect Diversified Futures

Investment Objective

Aims to generate significant medium-term capital growth independent of overall movements in traditional stock and bond markets within a rigorous risk management framework. The fund aims to provide a return greater than the Reserve Bank of Australia cash rate over rolling three-year periods after fees and taxes.

Investment Approach

Aspect takes a quantitative and systematic approach to investment management. Aspect has no market sector or directional preference, and markets are selected on the basis of diversification, liquidity and transaction costs. Aspect's trend-following systems have exposure to over 180 of the most liquid global financial and commodity futures, currency forwards and (through an unlisted unit trust) other derivative contracts. These trend-following systems employ a quantitative process to collect, process and analyse market data in order for the model to determine a view of the trend following opportunities in each market in the portfolio. By maintaining a comparatively small exposure to any individual contract, Aspect achieves sector and contract diversification, thereby allowing a wide range of opportunities to be exploited and maximising expected long-term risk-adjusted returns. The fund aims to minimise unintentional currency exposure.
Global financial and commodity futures, currency forwards and (through an unlisted unit trust) other derivative contracts are used to establish the market exposure of the fund. The face value of the fund's combined long and short positions will frequently be greater than 100% of the net asset value of the fund and, as a result, the fund will often be leveraged. The fund receives earnings from cash allocations for the benefit of investors.