INVESTMENTS

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange announced last week that amendments to its listing requirements have been approved to pave the way for the listing of actively managed exchange traded funds (ETFS) for the first time. These amendments, which will come into effect on October 14, are the most significant recent regulatory changes to the local ETF industry since February 2017, when the South African Reserve Bank allowed unlimited investment in offshore assets. At present, the only ETFS on the JSE are passive funds that track an index. Actively managed ETFS are similar to actively managed unit trust funds, in which a fund manager selects securities at his or her own discretion.