Stanbic IBTC Asset Management has opened its initial public offering for the Stanbic IBTC Exchange Traded Fund 30.

The company, a member of Standard Bank Group, said in a statement on Tuesday that it opened the IPO on Monday with 10,000,000 units of the fund available at N100 each at par.

According to it, the offer, which has been approved by 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, which is mean to close on October 15, 2014.

An exchange traded fund 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 Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited, mangers of the fund, Olumide Oyetan, was quoted as saying, “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.

“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.”

He explained that the fund was designed to track the performance of the NSE 30 index which comprises of the top 30 most capitalised and liquid companies on the Exchange.

The index is the main benchmark for the stock market as it represents 92 per cent of the NSE’s market capitalisation and the Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 will replicate the price and yield performance of the index.

He added, “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.”

According to the statement, the Fund will invest 100 per cent of its assets in the same portfolio of securities that comprise The NSE 30 Index in proportion to their weightings in the Underlying Index.

Punch