DNR fund upgraded to 'recommended' by Zenith
The DNR Capital Australian Emerging Companies fund has been upgraded to a ‘recommended’ rating from ratings house Zenith Investment Partners.
The fund, which offered investors concentrated exposure to listed Australian small companies, was described by Zenith as being “well placed to deliver on its investment objectives”.
It had reported returns of 15.41% p.a. since its inception in 31 August 2018, which outperformed the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Accumulation index by 9.50%.
Sam Twidale, DNR Capital Australian Emerging Companies portfolio manager, said the Australian small-cap sector was a particularly inefficient part of the market, but provided significant opportunities to add value from applying a consistent and proven investment process.
“We believe our quality discipline is proving to be more relevant to this part of the market,” Twidale said.
DNR Capital defined “quality” companies as those with earnings strength and improving returns, superior industry positions, sound balance sheets, strong management and low environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk.
Zenith said: “Since DNR Capital’s investment philosophy and process have been applied to the smaller companies segment of the market, impressive results have been achieved”.
According to FE Analytics, the fund had returned 40% over the previous year to 28 February, 2021, compared to the Australian small/mid cap sector which had an average return of 25.85%.
The best-performing fund in the sector was SGH Emerging Companies Professional Investors which returned 58.97%, followed by OC Micro-Cap (57.65%) and Lennox Australian Microcap (51.74%).
Performance of DNR Capital fund versus best-performers in the Australian small/mid cap sector over 12 months to 28 February 2021
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