This is the first time in the five year history of the annual Morningstar Awards that honours were awarded to an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF).
The corporate and investment banking division of Absa Bank Limited, member of Barclays, was recently awarded the Morningstar South Africa Fund Awards (Morningstar Awards) for ‘Best Sector Equity Fund’, for their NewFunds eRAFI™ Financial 15 ETF.
The Morningstar Awards cited that ETFs benefited from their meaningful fee advantages versus variable open-ended units trust fees, while their expansion globally, and their adoption by investors, is becoming a far more common place.
The NewFunds eRAFI™ Financial 15 Index, which the award winning ETF tracks, follows the eRAFITM fundamental indexation methodology devised by the US indexation company Research Associates. It comprises securities in 15 companies with the largest fundamental value, selected from a universe of financial-sector JSE-listed companies.
“The award recognises the fund’s performance as well as the firm’s innovative approach. Absa was the first exchange traded product provider to introduce the eRAFI™ investment methodology to the South African ETF market,” said Dr Vladimir Nedeljkovic, Head of Investments, at Absa’s corporate and investment banking division.
“This award demonstrates too that Exchange Traded Funds are starting to be recognised in the South African investment market not only as low cost investments, but also for their overall performance,” added Nedeljkovic.
The Morningstar Awards are held annually and to recognise those funds and firms that have delivered outstanding returns while maintaining prudent risk management in both the last year and historically. 2013 saw thirteen funds and two firms honoured with awards.
Absa’s Investment team was also ranked first in the ETF category in the Risk South Africa Rankings survey 2012.
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