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Intellidex 2019 reviews: Satrix FINI ETF

Written by Intellidex | 02-Jan-2020 12:10:00

Catch this insight by Intellidex on the Satrix FINI ETF. The Satrix FINI ETF equity is an aggressive fund suitable for investors seeking more exposure to SA’s financial and property sectors.

Intellidex insight: The Satrix FINI ETF is one of the two JSE-listed funds giving investors exposure to the South African financial sector and is dominated by local banking stocks. While the Satrix FINI ETF uses the typical market capitalisationweighting approach, its peer NewFunds S&P Givi Financial 15 ETF uses an enhanced approach which applies volatility and other unobservable inputs (such as cost of capital) to weight fund constituents.

So far, the Satrix FINI approach has been vindicated, outperforming its NewFunds counterpart by a wide margin for an extended period. In the five-year period to end-September, Satrix FINI outperformed NewFunds Givi by an average of 13.3% annually. However, Satrix FINI is a bit pricey, with a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.44% compared with NewFunds Givi’s 0.35%.

Generally, because sector funds are concentrated and respond similarly to certain macro factors (e.g. interest rates in this case) they can be used as “building blocks” in a well-diversified portfolio. Alternatively, you can take advantage of this uniform responsiveness to macro variables by increasing your tactical exposure to the financial sector if a macro tailwind is developing. This is called a core-satellite strategy. Using an ETF in a core-satellite trade reduces idiosyncratic risks associated with individual stocks.


Furthermore, the fund’s scrip lending activities helps minimise overall ETF costs. 

Fund description:The ETF tracks the price performance of the FTSE/JSE Financial 15 index, which consists of the biggest financial and property companies listed on the JSE. This index uses a capped market capitalisation-weighted approach, where companies with larger market capitalisation occupy a bigger part of the index. However, individual constituents are capped at 30% of the index’s value.

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Satrix FINI ETF 


Top holdings: The top 10 constituents constitute 74.7% of the overall fund. The top 10 constituents are more concentrated into the banking sector, which accounts for about 56% of the fund.

Suitability:The Satrix Fini equity is an aggressive fund suitable for investors seeking more exposure to SA’s financial and property sectors. The financial sector can work as a long-term growth play or a short-to-medium term defensive play, which makes this fund a good holding in most portfolios.

Historical performance:The ETF performance is impressive when considering the poor market conditions in the last few years.

Source: http://www.etfsa.co.za/docs/perfsurvey/perform%20survey%20-%20Nov2019.pdf and October 2019 fact sheets

Fundamentals: Unlike other sectors, the financial sector generates most of its income in SA. The Satrix Fini fund holds much value for investors with an optimistic view of the local economy and rand strengthening. For some time, the South African economy has been overshadowed by the politics which has hampered business confidence and growth. The poor trajectory of government finances, exacerbated by the burden of SOEs, has adversely affected the country’s sovereign credit rating. Consequently, local banks – which dominated the Satrix FINI fund – have also been downgraded along with SA’s sovereign credit rating. Without improvement in the economy and government’s finances, the fund faces significant downside risks.

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Satrix FINI ETF

Fund statistics:

Alternatives: There are no alternatives for this ETF.

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Satrix FINI ETF  Fact Sheet

Background: Exchange-traded funds (ETFs)

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are passively managed investment funds that track the performance of a basket of pre-determined assets. They are traded the same way as shares and the main difference is that whereas one share gives exposure to one company, an ETF gives exposure to numerous companies in a single transaction. ETFs can be traded through your broker in the same way as shares, say, on the Easy Equities platform. In addition, they qualify for the tax-free savings account, where both capital and income gains accumulate tax free.

Benefits of ETFs

  • Gain instant exposure to various underlying shares or bonds in one transaction
  • They diversify risk because a single ETF holds various shares
  • They are cost-effective
  • They are liquid – it is usually easy to find a buyer or seller and they trade just like shares
  • High transparency through daily published index constituents

Disclaimer

This research report was issued by Intellidex (Pty) Ltd. Intellidex aims to deliver impartial and objective assessments of securities, companies or other subjects. This document is issued for information purposes only and is not an offer to purchase or sell investments or related financial instruments. Individuals should undertake their own analysis and/or seek professional advice based on their specific needs before purchasing or selling investments. The information contained in this report is based on sources that Intellidex believes to be reliable, but Intellidex makes no representations or warranties regarding the completeness, accuracy or reliability of any information, facts, estimates, forecasts or opinions contained in this document. The information, opinions, estimates, assumptions, target prices and forecasts could change at any time without prior notice. Intellidex is under no obligation to inform any recipient of this document of any such changes. Intellidex, its directors, officers, staff, agents or associates shall have no liability for any loss or damage of any nature arising from the use of this document. 

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The opinions or recommendations contained in this report represent the true views of the analyst(s) responsible for preparing the report. The analyst’s remuneration is not affected by the opinions or recommendations contained in this report, although his/her remuneration may be affected by the overall quality of their research, feedback from clients and the financial performance of Intellidex (Pty) Ltd.

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