The funds most exposed to Steinhoff
The news that Steinhoff ’s long-serving CEO Markus Jooste had quit sent the company’s share price into free fall yesterday morning. Overall, Steinhoff ’s share price has dropped over 80% over the past 18 months.
The impact of the massive drop in the share price will be widely felt in SA as, until this week, Steinhoff was one of the 15 largest companies on the JSE. It was, therefore, a widely held across a range of unit trust and ETF portfolios.
According to ProfileData statistics, Steinhoff was held in 341 funds at end September (most recent date). A Moneyweb analysis earlier this year also found that Steinhoff was the fifth-most widely-held share in SA portfolios. The table shows the 10 funds most exposed to the share at September 31, 2017.
It’s notable that two index-tracking funds top the list, and there are two more in the top six. The S&P Givi indices are designed to incorporate stocks that offer both intrinsic value and lower volatility. Similarly, the Ashburton Low Beta SA Composite Tracker Fund is also meant to deliver lower volatility.
Until this point, Steinhoff had demonstrated particularly low volatility in comparison to the rest of the market, and that ex- plains its high weighting in these indices.
Shari’ah funds are also prominent. Given their restricted investment universe, Steinhoff is not only a prominent stock in the local Shari’ah index, but is also highly favoured by active managers.