STANLIB cash king – ASISA

Cash may be king in the currently nervous investing environment, but STANLIB is the king of cash solutions, according to the latest unit trust industry figures from the Association for Savings & Investments SA (ASISA).

STANLIB offers money market and cash management solutions across the retail, corporate and institutional sectors.

ASISA figures for 2008 show that total cash and near-cash assets in STANLIB’s money market funds approached R55 billion by year-end. The retail fund was close to R33 billion by that stage – up by R8 billion over the course of the year – while the corporate fund was at an all-time high of R15 billion.

This fund stood at just under R3 billion at the start of 2008.

The industry statistics confirm that STANLIB, the country’s largest unit trust company, is market leader in the money market and cash management sector with 26% market share.

René Levy, STANLIB’s head of cash solutions, comments: “We’ve continued to build our base on the back of long-term growth by the sector as a whole. We ascribe this to broader awareness – especially among retail investors – that money market funds offer low-risk returns in a volatile market and provide attractive returns in a declining interest rate environment.

“Enhanced returns are made possible by active management of the yield curve and the fact that a mix of longer and shorted dated instruments within a money market fund cushions the immediate impact of a rate cut.

“Money market funds usually offer 48-hour capital access to retail investors and same-day access in the corporate and institutional space. Therefore, fund size can fluctuate significantly, but we have experienced less volatility in the current environment as inflows are underpinned by high retention levels – a factor that remained evident into 2009 as our funds continued on the growth path.”