Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited, a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, has wrapped up plans to launch a new Exchange Traded Fund, ETF.
The company said the ETF, which is to be called the Stanbic IBTC Pension ETF 40, will mirror the Pension 40 Index. The launch will bring to two the ETFs in Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited’s portfolio.
In 2014, the company launched the Stanbic IBTC ETF 30, which tracks the performance of the top 30 stocks listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The Pension Index, launched in 2015, by the NSE to drive market optimisation, is a tracking mechanism for investors, particularly institutional investors like Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), that invest in line with guidelines set out by the National Pension Commission (PENCOM). The NSE Pension Index monitors the top 40 most capitalised and liquid companies in the market.
The Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited, Mrs. Bunmi Dayo-Olagunju, who commented on the new ETF, said the primary objective of the Stanbic IBTC Pension ETF 40 is to provide investors access to the most liquid publicly quoted companies on the NSE that are compliant with the regulatory requirements for investing pension assets in terms of taxable profits, free float, dividend, sector and individual stock weighting.
“The Stanbic IBTC Pension ETF 40 is designed as an instrument of choice for PFAs, Life Assurance companies, institutional investors, as well as foreign portfolio managers who are desirous of the Nigerian exposure with minimal liquidity and exit risk,” Dayo-Olagunju said.
Highlighting some of the benefits of the ETF, Dayo-Olagunju said the fund would provide investors with a strategic exposure to the equities market, allowing for flexibility, cost effectiveness, diversification of investment, as well as liquidity. She added that it would act as a benchmark for PFAs to measure performance and report same to Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders.
