Third SALTA awards for the ETF industry, event held at the JSE - 11 March 2020

The organisers of the annual SALTA Awards are pleased to announce the winners of this year’s Annual Awards made to issuers of JSE listed Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) for investment performance and index tracking excellence for the year ended December 2019.

As this is the 20th year since the listing of the first ETF (Satrix 40) on the JSE, it is appropriate that twenty awards were made this year. The Awards were handed out at a cocktail function held at the JSE on Wednesday evening, 11th March 2020. The awards ceremony was webcast live by Corpcam (https://www.corpcam.com/ETFSA11032020) and the award winners were interviewed on Classic 102.7 FM.

The twenty award winners were distributed amongst the ETF issuers and ranked as follows:

A list of the individual award winners per category is attached as an appendix to this press release.
 
The SALTA Awards recognise not only the best total investment returns for ETFs over periods of 3, 5 and 10 years in various categories, but also look to reward “skills” in providing index tracking listed ETFs for the investment public. The organisers measure such skills through:

• Efficiency in tracking indices (tracking error) over 3 years.
• New Capital Raised through JSE listings over 3 and 5 years for individual products, as well as for ETF issuing houses.
• Trading Efficiency over 3 years.
•  A “People’s Choice Award”, selected by public votes, through a dedicated website.

The People’s Choice award, now also in its third year, attracted more than double the votes cast last year and is now a representative sample of a significant body of voters.

Analysis of this voting pattern indicates that Satrix remains the public’s favourite choice as a brand, followed some distance behind, by 1nvest and Sygnia Itrix.

Five of the 10 most popular ETFs were issued by Satrix (Satrix 40, Satrix Nasdaq, Satrix MSCI World, Satrix INDI and Satrix DIVI ETFs). The Sygnia Itrix 4th Industrial Revolution ETF came fourth in the poll, indicating public acceptance of the concept of investing in the global new technology sector.

BACKGROUND
The South African Listed Tracker Awards (“SALTA”) are now in their third year. It is an initiative by service providers to the burgeoning ETF industry in South Africa, who are not issuers of ETFs themselves, to reward such issuers for exceptional products provided to the South African markets.

The JSE Limited, Refinitiv, Profile Data and etfSA.co.za are the sponsors and organisers of these Awards.

A rigorous analysis of daily NAV pricing and other data, provided by the administrators of ETFs to local data collectors has been used to assess investment performance and other ratios to determine the best providers of ETFs in the various categories measured. Only quantitative assessments have been utilised and no subjective judgements were made.
 
The only exception to the quantitative rule is the “People’s Choice” Award. This is assessed by a public poll where the South African investment public has been asked to provide their feedback on their favourite ETF and the reasons for this choice.

The poll is conducted through a dedicated website and has had an extremely good response.