Sygnia to list on lower-cost A2X

Disruptive asset manager Sygnia is set to list on the A2X Markets stock exchange on Thursday next week. Sygnia CEO Magda Wierzycka said there would be no costs, risks or additional regulatory compliance burden for the company as a result of this listing and it would function as a secondary listing.

Disruptive asset manager Sygnia is to list on the A2X Markets stock exchange next Thursday.

The company, which has positioned itself as the champion for low investment charges, said shares available on the A2X platform would enable its shareholders and stockbrokers to transact at a lower cost as endto-end costs of transacting are lower on the A2X platform.

Sygnia CEO Magda Wierzycka said there would be no costs, risks, or additional regulatory compliance burden for the company as a result of this listing and will function as a secondary listing. Its primary listing will remain with the JSE. Sygnia will also not issue any new shares when it lists on A2X.

A2X, which began trading in October 2017, estimates if it took up 20% of market share, stockbrokers could save R200m a year and end-investors up to R1.4bn. A2X now has nine approved brokers and 11 companies listed on its platform.

The exchange’s CEO, Kevin Brady, said the technology A2X uses allows for less transaction touch points than the JSE, which was why it has been able to halve its transaction fee to 0.2 basis points, compared to the JSE’s 0.46 basis points. “Overall, our end-to-end costs of transacting are 0.56 basis points, which is 50% lower than current trading costs in SA,” he said.

A2X has also applied for an amendment to its licence which, if approved, will lead to it adding secondary exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as well.

Brady said he hoped Sygnia’s ETFs would be among the first to be added to the platform. Sygnia manages more than R19.68bn in ETF investments tracking the European, US and Japan equity markets, to name a few.

“We support disruption, competition and best practice in SA’s capital markets,” said Wierzycka. “International experience has shown how competition helps drive a more efficient and responsive industry, which ultimately benefits the endconsumer and assists in the overall growth of the market.”