Trident Global Growth Fund

By Lance Spicer, Fund Manager

The Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) of our managed fund, The Trident Global Growth Fund is now available here. For years we have been showing our subscribers how to make outstanding returns by investing in stocks from around the world as well as here in Australia.

“Now we have taken the same investment strategies and methodology we use in the Trident Confidential stock market newsletter and applied them to our managed fund for the benefit of all investors."

The Trident Global Growth Fund provides exposure to an actively managed and diverse portfolio of Australian and International shares with some of the fastest-growing, innovative companies on the Australian and International share markets. The Fund is designed to provide capital growth through investment in Australian and International Equities. It is best suited to long-term investment. The ideal envisioned time horizon for investment is a 5 year minimum, though funds can be redeemed at any time according to the PDS regulations set out.

What the fund will invest in

The fund is investing in Australia and Overseas markets. These investments will be chosen using the same principles which we apply in choosing stocks for our Trident Confidential Newsletter, although the Fund's investment portfolio will vary from the Trident Confidential Newsletter due investment periods, share volume liquidity and other issues.

These investments will be chosen for inclusion based on a number of factors but fundamentally they must be a well-managed company that displays earnings and sales growth that fits with our thematic top down analysis and also complies with our bottom up fundamental analysis. We use a combination of growth and value investing that has worked so well for us over the many years we have been providing recommendations. 

We will be sticking to what we know best - simply investing in well-run, great businesses at the right price.

To assist you further, we have compiled some Questions and Answers.

When did the Fund commence?
December 1, 2010.

Who can I speak to if I have questions about the fund, the PDS or how to complete the application form?
Alicia Hunt, Operations Manager at AMH (responsible entity)
Ph: 02 9241 7959 E: info@amhonline.com.au

Who can invest?
Anybody. You do not have to be a Trident Confidential subscriber.

When Can I apply?
Anytime using the application form at the back of the PDS. If you are already a Halifax broking client please contact Alicia Hunt at AMH to ask about ID requirements prior to completing the form as you may not need to resubmit them – Ph: 02 9241 7959 E: info@amhonline.com.au
 
What is the minimum investment?
AUD$15,000. There is no maximum at this stage.
 
What investments will it make?
The Fund will invest primarily in Australian and US listed and unlisted equities - through the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and NASDAQ. We also have the ability to invest in Asian and European markets if the opportunities arise.

Who’ll be managing the fund?
Lance Spicer is the Chief Investment Officer of Trident Investment Management Pty Ltd (ACN 136 841 426), which is the investment manager of the Fund. The responsible entity of the Fund is Australian Mutual Holdings Limited (ACN 115 182 137).
 
Can Self-Managed Super Funds (SMSF) invest?
Yes.

Can I roll my Superannuation funds from another fund into this Fund?
Unless you have your own Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF) you are not able to use your Super Funds to invest in this Fund. This is because no public offer Super Funds currently offer the option of your choosing the Trident Global Growth Fund. So you will need an SMSF. They are easy to set-up and manage. If you are interested in establishing an SMSF, then you should obtain your own accountant or if you require advice on establishing a SMSF and do not currently have an accountant, then we recommend Superannuation Accounting Services. 

Please contact: Edmond Ong Ph: 1300 735 254
E: edmondong@superaccounting.com.au
 
Can you accept funds from clients outside of Australia?
Yes.
 
Who is the Responsible Entity for this Fund?
Australian Mutual Holdings (AMH) who are a very experienced responsible entity for funds and are a public company. Australian Mutual Holdings Limited holds Australian financial services licence number 295393. The fund will be operated in accordance with its constitution, a copy of which has been lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The fund accounts will also be independently audited for the benefit of all investors, of which I’ll be one.

Will full Identification/Anti-money laundering requirements be required? 
Yes, identification will be required as it is to open any account with an Australian financial institution. However, if you are already a Halifax account holder, please contact Alicia Hunt at Australian Mutual Holdings (AMH) prior to completing your application as some of your details to verify your ID should have already been supplied and this will make the process easier for you.

Alicia Hunt – AMH – Ph: 02 9241 7959 E: info@amhonline.com.au
 
I prefer regular contributions, rather than making a large initial commitment.  Will there be a regular contribution facility?
The minimum initial commitment is AUD$15,000, however after that contributions can be made for any amount. Additional contributions can be made by Direct Credit facility, Cheque or cash deposit only. Each contribution must be made using the PDS application form, but you don’t need to go through any further ID process. You should refer to the current PDS before making a further contribution.
 
Will the fund pay a distribution?
Yes, it will. This income will vary based on dividends and realized capital gains and the fund automatically re-invests distributions in the Fund on your behalf. However, you may elect to have distribution deposited into your bank account. This will occur at the end of the Financial Year and is usually paid within 60 days.
 
Will the Fund use gearing or other complex instruments? Or will you limit yourself to only Inverse ETF's?
The PDS allows the use of derivatives, as well as borrowing or leveraging. I will be using various ETF’s as I do with Trident Confidential.  The intention at this stage is not to use derivatives. An Inverse ETF is the ability to ‘short’ the instrument.

What access will investors have to their funds? Will there be a website to monitor unit prices?

Investors will be able to monitor the price of units online. The website where you can access the unit price is www.amhonline.com.au/trident. The unit price will be calculated and published monthly. Redemptions will be processed in accordance with the Fund's redemption policy, which is contained in the PDS.  The way redemptions are offered to investors will depend on whether the Fund is liquid or illiquid.  See the PDS and current information about the Fund at www.amhonline.com.au/trident for further details.

What fees are payable and will there be performance fees?
There is a base management fee payable to the Responsible Entity equal to 2% per annum of funds under management.  In addition there is a performance fee payable to Trident Investment Management if it outperforms the agreed benchmark. This means my interests are aligned with yours, if you don’t make money above the index, then I don’t. Trident Investment Management receives 20% of profits ABOVE the benchmarked index. If we perform in-line with the index, we don’t receive a performance fee of any kind. We have to beat the market to earn a performance fee.
 
What Benchmark do you use in calculating the performance fee? 
The benchmark will be the MSCI World Index in a US denomination. This index comprises a number of companies in 24 developed markets including Australia, UK, the US, Hong Kong, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and France.
 
Are your funds safe?
All investment carries with it a degree of risk and you should refer to the PDS and in particular, the section entitled "The risks of investing". Having said that, I’m putting a substantial amount of my own money into this fund so at all times my interests and yours will be totally aligned. Secondly, the fund will be fully audited by an ASIC registered and approved external auditor and the responsible entity and the custodian are well respected and very experienced in the management of funds.

What will be the returns?

Quite a number of people have been asking me the question, “What will the returns be for the fund?” To put it simply, I can’t answer the question for a number of reasons. Firstly, it would be illegal for me to give you a number or even an indication. On top of that, I don’t know.

Investors should not regard the historical returns quoted by the Trident Confidential Newsletter to be in any way an indication or forecast of the performance of the Fund because:

·                Past performance is no guide to future performance.  Future performance may vary and the variations may be material.

·                The Fund will incur fees as in the administration fees, which pay for all the costs involved in running a Fund. There are more costs than you realise – Government fees and charges, auditors, accountants, custodians, administration staff, insurances, legal fees and the list goes on.

·                The Fund will pay a base management fee regardless of performance to cover the above-mentioned costs and a performance fee if the Fund outperforms the benchmark.

·                While Trident Investment Management will adopt the same approach to investment selection, the investments selected for the Fund will not necessarily be the same as those referred to in the Trident Confidential Newsletter.  

What’s the difference between the Fund and newsletter?
The stocks we invest in through the newsletter are more, what I call “immediate buys” and are prone to make the “explosive profits” we have seen with some Trident Confidential stocks, whereas with the Fund, positions have to be built over time with care taken not to alert the market of my intentions and this means some stocks that are great for the newsletter won’t be suitable for the fund. The whole process is very different.
 
Does the Fund replace the newsletter?
No, it supplements it. The Fund offers another level of diversification and into companies and industries that may not have been suitable stocks for the newsletter. The newsletter and the Fund will in many cases could have different stocks in them because of things such as the risk profile, acquisition thresholds, impact on large transactions (liquidity).

The intention is for the Fund not to replace Trident Confidential in any way. I expect the Fund and the newsletter will be mostly investing in different things. There are so many great opportunities out there in Europe, the US, China, other parts of Asia as well as Australia that to put them all in the newsletter would be impossible, simply because I think a newsletter portfolio with over 40 stocks is unwieldy and it’s unrealistic to think that there are many subscribers with more than say 20-30 stocks in their portfolio.
 
This is where the fund comes in. It offers another level of diversification and into companies and industries that may not have been suitable stocks for the newsletter. In essence, the Fund is not replacing the newsletter, but supplementing it.

Further Questions?

Any emails or calls about questions on the fund or filling in the application form - they should all be directed to the “responsible entity”, Australian Mutual Holdings as they are responsible for all administration.

Please direct Fund enquiries to:

Alicia Hunt – Fund Operations Manager on (02) 9241 7959 or

Email info@amhonline.com.au