Stanbic IBTC opens IPO for N1bn Exchange Traded Fund

Stanbic IBTC Asset Management, Nigeria’s leading asset management firm and a member of Standard Bank Group, the largest banking group in Africa, opened its initial public offering for the Stanbic IBTC Exchange Traded Fund 30 (ETF 30), Monday, 15 September 2014, with 10,000,000 units of the Fund available at N100 each at par. The offer closes on Wednesday, October 15, 2014.

The offer, which has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Nigerian Stock Exchange, will have a minimum subscription of 10,000 units and multiples of 5,000 units thereafter. Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited is the issuing house to the offer.

“The opening of the Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 is a direct response to increased investor demand for passive investment strategies that will deliver the market return for the index being tracked, which in this case is the NSE 30 of The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE Our ETF is merely providing a transparent and flexible structure that allows investors efficiently gain exposure to the securities of these companies that have over
time out-performed the broad equity market,” said Olumide Oyetan, chief executive officer of Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited, managers of the Fund.

He stated that the fund is designed to track the performance of The NSE 30 index which comprises of the top 30 companies listed on The NSE in terms of market capitalisation and liquidity.

The index serves as the flagship benchmark for the stock market as it represents 92 percent of The NSE’s market capitalisation and the Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 will replicate the price and yield performance of the index.

“The Fund represents a convenient and efficient way for investors to have access to the top 30 most capitalised and liquid stocks on The NSE,
in a cost effective manner.

We believe that it will appeal to sophisticated and institutional investors that believe in the growth story of companies listing on The NSE and by extension in the abundant growth opportunities that exist in Nigeria,” added Oyetan.

An Exchange Traded Fund (“ETF”) is an investment vehicle that tracks an index, a basket of assets, or a commodity but trades like regular shares on a stock exchange. The Fund will invest 100 percent of its assets in the same portfolio of securities that comprise The NSE 30 Index in proportion to their weightings in the Underlying Index.