R100m pours into STANLIB Nationbuilder Fund

Local investors are backing the country to use the Government's focus on infrastructure development as a catalyst for long-term economic growth. In less than four months they have ploughed more than R100 million into the STANLIB Nationbuilder Fund, a unit trust that targets sectors and companies positioned to benefit from the economic development of our Nation.

The domestic equity product was launched at the end of January by the country's largest unit trust company as a way of buying into the vision of sustainable growth set out by national planners.

Kim Zietsman, head of single-manager unit trusts at STANLIB, commented: "The fund hit the R100 million-mark much sooner than anticipated, indicating strong support for the view that higher growth is expected to be maintained.

"We positioned the fund as a vehicle for uncompromising commitment to the domestic equity class and the longer term investment horizon.

"Many unit trust investors have not been fully exposed to the JSE bull-run this last three years because of the enduring appeal of asset allocation products with strictly defined equity weightings. In contrast, Nationbuilder is a pure equity product offering exposure to national upside as our economy builds momentum in line with the Asgisa growth strategy.

"There is an element of flag-waving in the positioning, but positive South African sentiment is supported by solid macro fundamentals."

At the time of the launch, STANLIB product developers pointed out that 2010 would be a catalyst that would generate substantial benefits, including:

* A contribution of R21.3 billion to GDP;
* R4.6 billion in ticket sales alone;
* R7.2 billion in taxes to Government;
* 400 000 visitors (33% of ticket sales);
* 10 500 media representatives and 14 500 VIPs;
* 59 000 new jobs.

Kim Zietsman added: "Nationbuilder has already rewarded early supporters as the domestic equity class has performed very strongly in recent months. However, the aim is to benefit from long-term growth. We believe the best is yet to come."