Key highlights

  • ALFA uses an actively managed systematic long-short strategy and holds 70 ASX-listed companies, with its top 10 making up 49.50%.
  • Industrials is 18.30% of the fund, compared with a category average of 7.30%, and the fund is fully invested in Australia.
  • The fund size is $36.77 million, the management fee is 0.39% and the annual yield is shown as 0.87%.

Systematic long-short funds use quantitative screens rather than discretionary stock picking to choose both the shares they hold and the shares they sell short. The VanEck Australian Long Short Complex ETF (ASX:ALFA) is an Australian-listed example. It was admitted to the ASX on 23 January 2025, is classified by Morningstar as Equity Australia Long Short and uses the S&P/ASX 200 TR AUD index as its benchmark. It is a complex ETF.

This article describes the exposure ALFA provides, using its ASX fund page, including its sector mix, its largest holdings, its fee and its distribution history. It contains no return data or advice.

What the fund is designed to do

The fund employs an actively managed systematic long-short strategy and provides exposure to a portfolio of ASX-listed companies selected on the basis of scoring highly on proprietary quantitative screens and exhibiting the highest probability of generating alpha. Short selling is used to achieve positive returns when share prices are expected to fall, and the proceeds from short selling are reinvested in the long portfolio.

Morningstar describes long-short Australian equity funds as those that hold sizeable stakes in both long and short positions in Australian-domiciled equities, exchange-traded funds and related derivatives, with market exposure varying between low and moderately high over the medium term. ALFA holds 70 companies, its beta is 1.06 and its standard deviation 15.78. The fund size is $36.77 million with 1,605,538 units outstanding.

Sector allocation

The sector breakdown shows Basic Materials (26.58%), Financial Services (21.59%), and Industrials (18.30%) as the three largest allocations. Relative to its Morningstar category average, the fund holds a higher share in Basic Materials (26.58 vs 23.82%), Industrials (18.30 vs 7.30%), Energy (8.90 vs 4.64%), and Consumer Defensive (8.33 vs 5.11%). It holds a lower share than the category average in Financial Services (21.59 vs 23.89%), Healthcare (3.06 vs 8.10%), Consumer Cyclical (2.54 vs 9.08%), and Real Estate (2.12 vs 6.37%). The remaining listed sectors are Energy (8.90%), Consumer Defensive (8.33%), Communication Services (3.97%), Healthcare (3.06%), Consumer Cyclical (2.54%), Utilities (2.54%), and Real Estate (2.12%).

The quantitative screens lead to a lower weighting in Consumer Cyclical, Healthcare and Real Estate than the average long-short fund.

Asset mix, company size and geography

Stocks are 100.00% of the fund, with no cash recorded, compared with category averages of 96.27% stocks and 3.34% cash. By company size, 93.12% is in companies above $1 billion and 6.88% in companies between $500 million and $1 billion, with none below $500 million. The category averages are 81.25%, 15.57% and 3.17%.

All of the fund, 100.00%, is in Australia, compared with 85.79% in the category.

Top holdings

The ten largest holdings make up 49.50% of the fund, with 50.50% across the other 60. They are Woolworths Group (ASX:WOW) at 5.47%, BHP Group (ASX:BHP) at 5.29%, Telstra Group (ASX:TLS) at 5.24%, Fortescue (ASX:FMG) at 5.17%, Transurban Group (ASX:TCL) at 4.99%, QBE Insurance Group (ASX:QBE) at 4.83%, ANZ Group (ASX:ANZ) at 4.82%, Woodside Energy Group (ASX:WDS) at 4.71%, Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG) at 4.51% and Coles Group (ASX:COL) at 4.42%.

The weights are relatively even, with no holding above 5.5%, which is consistent with a rules-based portfolio rather than one concentrated in a few large companies.

Distributions

ALFA pays distributions annually. The most recent was a final distribution of $0.200 per unit, with an ex-date of 1 July 2026, a record date of 2 July 2026 and a payment date of 27 July 2026. The earlier distribution was $0.110 in July 2025, and the page lists an annual yield of 0.87%.

Fund snapshot and recent filings

On the ASX page, ALFA showed a last price of $22.94, up $0.04 or 0.17%, a bid-offer range of $21.91 to $23.00, a day range of $22.89 to $22.94 and a trading volume of 230 units against an average of 3,246. The management fee is 0.39% and the ISIN is AU0000371767. Its head office is at Level 12, Suite 1, 60 Castlereagh Street, Sydney.

Recent announcements include the monthly update for September 2026 and the quarterly MPI tracking disclosure as at 30 September on 7 October, the issued units outstanding report as at 30 September on 7 October, the annual report for the year ended 30 June 2026 on 28 September and the monthly update for August on 4 September 2026.

What ALFA’s exposure adds up to

ALFA provides quantitative long-short exposure to 70 Australian companies, with a higher industrials weight than its category and a 0.39% management fee. It distributes annually.