Markets & Investment News South Africa

1nvest lists ETF that invests in US government bonds

Shares in the 1nvest ICE US Treasury short bond index feeder Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) began trading on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange today, giving South African investors exposure to liquid, short-term US government bonds.
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According to 1nvest, a specialist index fund manager, the ETFUSD tracks the performance of the ICE US Treasury short bond index which measures the performance of US dollar-denominated short-term government bonds issued by the US Treasury.

“Investing in liquid short-term US Treasury bonds on the JSE is now a possibility with ETFUSD, the 1nvest ICE US Treasury short bond index feeder ETF,” says Johann Erasmus, executive director at 1nvest.

The index is market value-weighted and is designed to include US dollar-denominated, fixed-rate securities (Treasury bills and Treasury notes) with a minimum term to maturity greater than one month and less than or equal to one year.

“We applaud the team at 1nvest for a third successful ETF listing this year. The listing adds to the variety of choices investors have to diversify their portfolios,” says Valdene Reddy, director for capital markets at the JSE.

Through this ETF (JSE code ETFUSD), South African investors can invest with rands in the US dollar-based product as an alternative to USD denominated money market funds, without affecting their exchange-control limit or going through an externalisation process.

Furthermore, the ETFUSD offers investors bonds matching the credit-worthiness of the United States government.

The inclusion of this fund into 1nvest’s extensive product range provides additional building blocks for investors looking for cost-effective access to US government fixed-income instruments.

The listing of ETFUSD brings the number of ETF listings on the JSE to 93 with a total ETF market capitalisation of R114bn.

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