Key Facts

Index Used: ASX 200 Total Return Discretionary/Quantitative: Discretionary
Peer Group: Equity Alternative - Australia FUM (millions): AU$ 65.01m
Investment Style: Blend Fund Inception Date: March 2005
Geographic Mandate: Australia Latest Return Date: February 2024
Investor Type: Wholesale & Retail Status: Open
Minimum Investment: AU$ 10,000 Investment Frequency: Daily

Manager Details

NovaPort Capital is a boutique Australian equities investment manager specialising in small and microcap ASX-listed companies. The company was founded in 2010 by Alex Milton and Sinclair Currie, having previously worked together as co-portfolio managers within Challenger Limited's small companies team. NovaPort is a benchmark unaware, active investment manager.

As a high conviction investors, NovaPort invest in a concentrated number of companies at any given time, with portfolios that have lower turnover of securities. They believe there are inefficiencies in investment markets, particularly within the universe of smaller listed companies. Their approach is focused on buying companies with an improving outlook at discounted valuations. New investment ideas for their portfolios are discovered through conducting extensive research, qualitative analysis and financial modelling, with the ultimate aim of providing superior investment returns for investors over a three year time horizon.

Fidante Partners invests in and forms long-term alliances with talented investment professionals to create, grow and support specialist, boutique funds management businesses. By providing a broad range of integrated services to NovaPort Capital, Fidante Partners frees up the NovaPort investment team to focus on what it does best; investing and managing assets.

Fidante Partners is part of Challenger Limited (Challenger), an Australian financial services firm listed on the ASX.

NovaPort Capital is a boutique Australian equities investment manager specialising in small and microcap ASX-listed companies. The company was founded in 2010 by Alex Milton and Sinclair Currie, having previously worked together as co-portfolio managers within Challenger Limited's small companies team. NovaPort is a benchmark unaware, active investment manager.

Strategy Description

The Fund aims to outperform its benchmark over rolling seven-year periods through the investment in a diversified portfolio of micro-cap Australian companies.

NovaPort is an active investment manager whose investment approach is based on paying what NovaPort believes to be a reasonable price for companies with an improving profit growth profile, while paying particular attention to the underlying quality of company earnings, industry structure and quality of management in an aim to minimise downside risk.
The Fund aims to outperform its benchmark over rolling seven-year periods through the investment in a diversified portfolio of micro-cap Australian companies.

NovaPort is an active investment manager whose investment approach is based on paying what NovaPort believes to be a reasonable price for companies with an improving profit growth profile, while paying particular attention to the underlying quality of company earnings, industry structure and quality of management in an aim to minimise downside risk.

Fund Fees

Management Fee: 1.5% Performance Fee: 20%
Buy Spread: 0.3% Sell spread: 0.3%
High Water Mark: No Hurdle: N/A

Fund Structure

Offshore/Onshore: Onshore Fund Structure: Unit Trust
Share Classes: AU$ Trustee/RE: Fidante Partners Limited
Administrator: Fidante Partners Prime Broker: N/A
Custodian: Citibank Legal: Challenger Limited Legal Counsel

Ratings & Availability

Research Ratings

Morningstar Star RatingYes, contact Morningstar LonsecYes, contact Lonsec. (1 Aug 2020) ZenithYes, contact Zenith.

Platform Availability

BT Wrap, HUB24, Macquarie Wrap, Netwealth, Asgard, IOOF, MLC Wrap, AMP MyNorth, BT Panorama, MLC Navigator, uXchange, Ausmaq, Mason Stevens

Performance Review

The NovaPort Microcap Fund has a track record of 19 years and has outperformed the ASX 200 Total Return benchmark since inception in March 2005, providing investors with an annualised return of 8.79% compared with the benchmark's return of 7.76% over the same period.

The Manager has delivered these returns with 2.13% more volatility than the benchmark, contributing to a Sharpe ratio which has fallen below 1 five times over the past five years and which currently sits at 0.42 since inception. The fund has provided positive monthly returns 79% of the time in rising markets and 34% of the time during periods of market decline, contributing to an up-capture ratio since inception of 46% and a down-capture ratio of 92%.

The NovaPort Microcap Fund rose by +0.89% in February, an outperformance of +0.1% compared with the ASX 200 Total Return benchmark which rose by +0.79%. Over the past 12 months, the fund's best monthly return was +6.1% compared with the benchmark's best return of +7.26%, and its worst monthly return was -3.45% vs the benchmark's worst return over the same period of -3.78%.

YearJan %Feb %Mar %Apr %May %Jun %Jul %Aug %Sep %Oct %Nov %Dec %YTD %
2024-1.210.89NANANANANANANANANANA-0.33
20232.900.95-3.311.41-3.381.510.320.21-1.15-3.452.406.104.12
2022-5.510.793.25-3.57-7.68-8.9312.110.80-4.481.163.450.10-9.86
20211.322.721.714.17-1.831.662.493.631.060.97-2.043.7321.19
20200.81-8.33-26.1815.508.15-0.801.807.974.68-1.0111.731.779.47
20191.363.89-0.821.93-1.85-0.386.200.625.073.78-2.50-0.2118.00
20181.96-1.69-1.851.91-0.232.93-0.232.64-0.88-8.79-2.94-4.12-11.29
20172.07-2.380.35-0.74-1.741.464.730.502.153.172.405.1918.20
2016-2.140.833.942.762.500.892.735.982.990.61-1.282.0523.86
20152.247.00-1.13-3.301.46-2.432.03-3.58-0.985.78-0.78-0.914.90
20141.503.521.83-2.99-0.41-0.903.724.76-2.41-1.40-3.051.745.65
20135.222.610.91-6.15-2.86-5.409.793.414.621.74-2.91-2.847.12
20122.794.761.89-1.18-4.41-1.406.114.652.835.61-0.843.0825.98
20111.533.65-3.660.18-2.29-5.434.42-2.76-5.916.34-3.18-0.52-8.17
2010-0.83-3.623.580.46-2.94-2.862.812.6710.484.640.6510.1526.87
2009-3.492.924.613.333.462.014.9210.987.863.424.102.8857.62
2008-14.94-1.28-9.131.54-1.06-9.30-5.491.05-6.97-17.59-8.221.19-52.73
20074.96-0.632.662.744.124.921.29-4.771.733.61-3.41-0.7017.18
20066.982.374.29-0.58-2.130.942.725.173.929.102.3511.7357.10
2005NANA-0.46-5.911.140.503.394.594.17-0.422.28-0.089.11

Only seven years of data shown. Click here to view all data.

Annual Returns

Over the past 12 months, the fund has returned -0.1% compared with the benchmark which has returned +10.64%, for a difference of -10.74%. Since inception in March 2005, the fund has returned +8.79% per annum, a difference of +1.03% relative to the benchmark which has returned +7.76% on an annualised basis over the same period.

Cumulative Returns

On a cumulative basis (assuming reinvestment of distributions), $100 invested since inception would have become $495. The same amount invested in the benchmark over the same period would have become $413.

Annual Returns %

 
 

Volatility and Risk

Annual Standard Deviation

The fund's returns over the past 12 months have been achieved with a volatility of 9.23% vs the index's 10.7%. The annualised volatility of the fund's returns since inception in March 2005 is 16.16% vs the index's 14.03%. Over all other periods, the fund's volatility relative to the benchmark has been varied.

Sharpe Ratio

The fund's Sharpe ratio has ranged from a high of 0.39 for performance over the most recent 48 months to a low of -0.4 over the latest 12 months, and is 0.42 for performance since inception. By contrast, the ASX 200 Total Return Index's Sharpe for performance since March 2005 is 0.39.

Annual Standard Deviation

 

Sharpe Ratio

 

Performance in Positive Markets

Since inception in March 2005 in the months where the market was positive, the fund has provided positive returns 79% of the time, contributing to an up-capture ratio for returns since inception of 46.23%. Over all other periods, the fund's up-capture ratio has ranged from a high of 89.31% over the most recent 48 months to a low of 52.5% over the latest 12 months.

Performance in Negative Markets

Since inception in March 2005 in the months where the market was negative, the fund has provided positive returns 34% of the time, contributing to a down-capture ratio for returns since inception of 91.81%. Over all other periods, the fund's down-capture ratio has ranged from a high of 110.06% over the most recent 12 months to a low of 90.31% over the latest 60 months. A down-capture ratio less than 100% indicates that, on average, the fund has outperformed in the market's negative months.

Average Return in +ve Market %

 

Average Return in -ve Market %

 

Sortino Ratio

The fund's Sortino ratio (which excludes volatility in positive months) has ranged from a high of 0.38 for performance over the most recent 48 months to a low of -0.61 over the latest 12 months, and is 0.47 for performance since inception. By contrast, the ASX 200 Total Return Index's Sortino for performance since March 2005 is 0.43.

Drawdown

Over the past 12 months, the fund's largest drawdown was -5.91% vs the index's -7.19%, and since inception in March 2005 the fund's largest drawdown was -56.24% vs the index's maximum drawdown over the same period of -47.19%.

Sortino Ratio

 

Drawdown%

 
Fund Index Peer group

Quintile Ranking vs. Average Equity Alternative - Australia as of February 2024

The NovaPort Microcap Fund is not ranked in the first or second quintile for any KPI.

Over the past 12 months, the fund has returned -0.1% compared with the peer group which has returned an average of +6.74%, for a difference of -6.84%.

The fund's returns over the past 12 months have been achieved with a volatility of 9.23% vs the peer group's average volatility of 6.72%. The annualised volatility of the fund's returns since inception in March 2005 is 16.16% vs the peer group's 8.99%. Over all other periods, the fund's returns have been more volatile than the peer group.

1 Year
3 Year
5 Year
7 Year
NovaPort Microcap Fund
ASX200 Total Return
Quintile Rankings display Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) against the fund's Peer Group. Each green square ranks the fund in one quintile (or 20%) of its peer group - five green squares indicate the fund is in the best quintile for each KPI. The performance of the peer group's underlying index is shown by a red dot.