08 Aug 2019
The C3G Fund delivered a strong return of +5.2% in July, comfortably outperforming the broader market with the All Ords and Small Ords up +3.0% and +3.7% respectively.
The end of July also marks the 5 year anniversary of the Fund. Over that period we have delivered a return of 20% p.a. (after all fees) for our investors. That track-record makes the Cyan C3G Fund one of the best performing funds in Australia over that time-frame.
We established the Fund to deliver strong double-digit annual returns with below market volatility through long-only investments in ASX listed emerging growth companies. We are proud to have achieved those ambitions for our clients.
Of course, due to the vagaries of the market and a few mistakes along the way, it never happens in a straight line. And, although we do not benchmark our performance against ASX Indices, we are also proud to have comfortably exceeded the makrets returns of the All Ords, Small Ords and Emerging Companies indices.
The Fund has clearly delivered good returns in strong markets, but equally satisfying is the fact that when the market has fallen we have almost always outperformed.
The chart below represents the worst 15 months the All Ords index has endured since the inception of the Fund; the Cyan C3G Fund outperformed the market in 14 of the 15 worst months (or 93% of occurrences).
FY2019 Distribution
The Fund paid a 13.3 cents per unit distribution in July, which investors elected to receive in cash or have reinvested in further units. All details are available in the holding and tax statements emailed to investors in early August.
Month in Review
Obviously during such a strong month there were numerous positive contributors in the portfolio and very few that performed poorly:
Alcidion (ALC) +32%: ALC has previously had strong technology solutions but, like many tech-based companies, had struggled to truly commercialise the business model. With the product suite now largely complete, and complemented by acquired businesses and products, the company is now proving itself commercially, as evidenced by the June quarterly cashflow statement. Strong revenue growth, positive cash generation and new contract wins positions ALC well to provide further growth in FY20.
Quickfee (QFE) +85%: In last month’s report we mentioned QFE as an upcoming IPO. The business offers premium funding and payment solutions to the accounting and legal industries in both Australia and the United States. It listed strongly in early July and closed the month at an 85% premium to its $0.20 issue price. QFE is still in the early stages of its company lifecycle and we look forward to seeing its progress both domestically and offshore.
Readcloud (RCL) +22%: This education technology business is leading the charge to digitise books for secondary school students and those undertaking vocational training. Similarly to Alcidion, the share price was driven up on the back of a positive operating update and quarterly cashflow statement. We participated in a small amount capital raise at month’s end to accelerate its push into the vocational training sector.
Atomos (AMS) +34%: This ‘prosumer’ video technology company, in which we originally invested late last year, continues to enjoy good traction with its product suite and also raised capital to support the working capital requirements driven by strong demand for new products. The company will deliver revenue around 20% higher than its original prospectus forecast and has already moved into profitability. We see a strong 12 months ahead.
PSC Insurance (PSI) +10%: This insurance services business has been a long term holding of the Fund. It continues to blend organic growth with strategic investments and acquisitions both domestically and internationally. We expect the group to deliver a solid result in the upcoming reporting season illustrating further earnings growth as a result of its expansion strategy.
Media
Dean Fergie wrote ‘Winning at the IPO Game’ for Livewire during the month.
Please refer to the ‘News’ section of our website for links to other articles this past month featuring Cyan.
Outlook
We again find ourselves in the midst of increased volatility, thanks largely to the financial and political positioning of the US President and co. Ongoing trade wars and associated currency fluctuations are likely to continue to drive sentiment in the short term. Hopefully our previously mentioned track record of outperformance in difficult markets continues…it is at the time of writing.
That said, rather than trying to pick short-term trading directions, we continue to invest on a stock specific basis through a well-diversified portfolio of around 30 companies. August welcomes reporting season so we expect the market will more fully focus on individual company performance rather than macro events and short-term sentiment.
We thank all our investors for their support and look forward to keeping everyone updated with the Fund’s progress. As always we are contactable in person and encourage you to do so if you have any questions for us.
Some key Fund criteria are outlined below.
Dean Fergie and Graeme Carson
Cyan Investment Management