NewGold delivers the goods

Absa’s gold exchange traded fund (ETF) NewGold continues to shine, and has now delivered 23.4% a year over the past five years.

SA’s largest ETF (in terms of market cap) has also outperformed all other index tracking funds, according to new data from etfsa.co.za .

Property exchange traded funds have also delivered solid returns over the past two to five years.

Proptrax SAPY ETF, which tracks the top 20 property companies on the JSE (market cap weighting) and Proptrax TEN ETF, which tracks the top ten property companies on the JSE equally weighted, have slightly outperformed the more actively managed Prudential Property Enhanced Index Unit Trust Fund.

Also showing up well is the DBX Tracker MSCI USA ETF, which tracks the MSCI 600 index of USA equities, and is amongst the top performer over the 1 year and 2 year period.  “Other foreign indices, traded on the JSE through ETFs and exchange traded notes, also showed superior performance, indicating that offshore equity investment is now worth considering,” according to efsa.co.za

In the short term – 3 to 6 months – “soft” commodity ETNs, such as the Corn and Wheat linker ETNs issued by Standard Bank have produced significant returns. “This is reflecting the present food shortage and weather concerns that have propelled many agricultural commodity prices upwards.”

Best Performing Index Tracker Funds – 31 August 2012