Relative Value Focus
The investment strategy is designed to exploit bond mispricing (relative value) rather than bet on interest rate duration, credit or illiquidity beta.
Coolabah Long Short Opportunities Fund
1 May 2020
Inception Date
AU$70.1M
FUM
7.77%
Yield
20.5%
Performance Fee
1.00% p.a.
Management Fees
Quarterly
Distribution
AU$1,000
Minimum Subscription
Alternative fixed interest
Category
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Coolabah Long Short Opportunities Fund
The Coolabah Long Short Opportunities Fund is an absolute-return, alternative fixed-income strategy.
The investment manager, Coolabah, aims to generate returns by taking a long or short position on mispriced fixed income securities. The Fund primarily invests in senior and subordinated debt securities (including government, semi-government and Supranational, sub-sovereigns and agency (SSA) bonds), hybrids and derivatives issued by Australian entities. It can also invest in these types of securities when they are issued by overseas entities (into the Australian market or offshore). The Fund aims to hold the majority of its portfolio in investment grade debt and hybrid securities.
Investment Objective
The Coolabah Long Short Opportunities Fund targets mid-to-high single-digit returns by exploiting mispricing in credit markets. It creates alpha through long and short positions on assets trading away from fair value, with selective use of leverage.
The Fund targets the RBA cash rate +8% p.a. (after fees) with lower volatility than the ASX All Ordinaries Index over rolling 3-year periods. Since inception (May 2020 to June 2025), realised volatility has averaged 3.3% p.a., versus the team’s expectation of ~3%.
To meet these goals, the Fund prioritises high liquidity and minimal permanent capital loss risk by keeping low duration, credit default, and illiquidity exposure, aiming to generate capital gains from bond mispricing in addition to coupon income.
Key Features
The Coolabah Long Short Opportunities Fund offers unique advantages for investors seeking steady returns
Diversified Yield Opportunities
The strategy is actively and opportunistically managed, benefiting from a broad opportunity set of instruments and exposures such as Australian term deposits, investment-grade floating-rate notes, and hybrid securities with a weighted-average credit rating of ‘A+’.
Low-Risk Sustainable Liquidity
The Fund typically has a very low interest-rate sensitivity, a weighted average portfolio MSCI ESG rating of ‘AA’ and high levels of liquidity.
Performance Track Record
Data-driven investment decisions backed by comprehensive market analysis
| Period | Gross | Net | Benchmark | Cash Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 month | 1.47% | 1.16% | 0.98% | 0.32% |
| 1 year | 10.49% | 8.32% | 12.66% | 4.18% |
| 3 years | 11.31% | 8.89% | 12.31% | 3.86% |
| 5 years | 9.31% | 6.84% | 10.66% | 2.35% |
| Inception | 9.18% | 6.71% | 10.54% | 2.25% |
Returns greater than 1 year are annualised. Source: Coolabah Capital Investments.
Investment Details
| Features | Coolabah Long-Short Opportunities Fund |
|---|---|
| 1-Year Return | 8.32% |
| Income distribution | Quarterly |
| Minimum Investment | AU$1,000 |
| Volatility | 3.33% p.a. |
| Annualised yield to maturity | 7.77% |
| Investment Universe | Senior and subordinated debt securities (including government, semi-government, supranational, sub-sovereigns and agency bonds), hybrids and derivatives issued by Australian entities |
| Benchmark | RBA Cash Rate + 8.0% p.a. (net of fees) |
Investment Expertise
An experienced team drives the investment strategy with deep expertise in high-grade credit and active fixed-income management.
CCI’s team has continued to grow strongly. As at March 2025, it comprised 53 full-time executives (47 last year), 11 portfolio managers/traders, and 21 analysts covering the functions of market technical/strategy, credit analysis, macro strategy and data science. The staff collectively have decades of fixed-interest trading, quantitative and credit-research experience.
CCI’s investment team is large and very well resourced compared to many of its peers, reflecting the highly active and quantitatively complex nature of CCI’s investment strategies. The CCI team is managed by Christopher Joye, who is both Chief Investment Officer and Senior Portfolio Manager.
The team is divided into 5 trading ‘pods’: USD Credit, European Credit, Asia-Pac Credit (including Australia), Sovereign, and the Hybrids pod.
| Team Member | Role | Experience |
|---|---|---|
| Christopher Joye | CEO, CIO and Senior Portfolio Manager | Christopher is a financial economist and funds management professional. He has led the investment team since its inception. His prior experience includes Goldman Sachs (M&A) and the RBA in special projects. He also established the quantitative research group Rismark, which managed asset-backed securities. |
| Roger Douglas | Deputy CIO, Senior Portfolio Manager and Co- Head of Interest Rates Trading | Roger Douglas joined Coolabah in 2022 as a Senior Portfolio Manager based in the London and Sydney offices. Roger was previously jointly responsible for EUR30BN in credit strategies at Deutsche Asset Management as a portfolio manager and Co-Head of Fixed-Income Solutions EMEA. |
| Ashley Kabel | Deputy CIO, Portfolio Manager and Quant Analyst | Ashley joined CCI in 2017. She was the Director of Quantitative Strategies at The Cambridge Strategy in London between 2012 and 2016, and prior to that, she was an investment analyst with PM responsibilities covering FX, equities and fixed-income. |
| Fionn O’Leary | Head of US and European Trading & Senior Portfolio Manager | Fionn joined Coolabah in 2023 as a Senior Portfolio Manager based in London. Fionn previously spent over a decade in various senior interest-rate trading roles at Deutsche Bank in London, where he originally started his career in 2002.. |
| Matt Johnson | Senior Portfolio Manager and Co-Head of Rates Trading | Matt joined Coolabah in 2021 as a Portfolio Manager & Quant Analyst focussing on interest rate and sovereign bond strategies. His prior career was spent at UBS as a Managing Director and the Global Head of Rates Strategy. |
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