Absa Capital, Satrix, Sygnia dominate ETF awards

THE THREE largest issuers of exchange traded funds (ETFs) in South Africa – Absa Capital, Satrix and Sygnia Itrix – dominated the inaugural South African Listed Tracker Awards (SALTA), which were held earlier this month.

For the period to the end of March this year, the awards recognised ETF providers for:

• The best total investment returns for one and three years in various categories;

• Efficiency in tracking the index that an ETF benchmarks;

• Tradability, measured over three years; and

• The raising of new and additional capital on the JSE.

There was also an award for investors’ “favourite ETF”.

In a ceremony at the JSE in Sandton, Absa Capital (NewFunds) was the top winner, receiving four SALTA trophies:

• Best total returns for a nonequity ETF (NewFunds Govi ETF) over one and three years;

• Best total returns for a South African equity ETF over three years (NewFunds S&P GIVI Resi 15 ETF); and

• Tracking efficiency (total returns relative to the index tracked) over three years for a South African non-equity ETF (NewFunds MAPPS Growth ETF).

Satrix won three awards:

• Best returns over one year (Satrix Fini ETF);

• Trading efficiency (Satrix Resi 10 ETF); and

• Investors’ favourite ETF (Satrix 40 ETF).

Sygnia Itrix also received three awards:

• The Sygnia Itrix MSCI USA

ETF was the top-performing ETF over three years in the foreign and commodity ETFs category;

• The Sygnia Itrix MSCI World ETF was the largest capital raiser for individual foreign and commodity funds over one year; and

• Sygnia Itrix was the most successful issuer of ETFs on the JSE over 12 months.

Sygnia Itrix only entered the South African ETF industry in June last year, with its purchase of five ETFs from Deutsche Bank.

Other winners were the CoreShares Top 50 ETF, which raised the most capital for a South African equity ETF over one year, and the Stanlib Swix 40 ETF, which had the best tracking efficiency for South Africa equity ETFs for the past three years.

The only award that relied on non-objective feedback was the favourite ETF award, which was determined by public poll. The poll was conducted on a dedicated website, and the data collected from a wide sample of investors resulted in the Satrix 40 ETF emerging as the winner. – Staff Reporter