LAURA DU PREEZ: Shift to investment indices that cap exposure to a single share
The concentration of a few large shares, and in particular Naspers, in local equity market indices has resulted in a shift by the parts of the investment industry that use market-weighted indices as benchmarks to indices that cap exposure to a single share. Investors have been informed that it isn't prudent for active fund managers to replicate such high concentrations in a few shares or a single share, and that in this way actively managed funds are better at managing the investment risks to which you are exposed if you track a market index. But the average investor should be forgiven for being confused as risk and return and measurement periods are all somewhat blurred. And a much broader debate about benchmarks and the risks for which performance should be adjusted is raised by only a few lone voices. The Foord Equity Fund, the country's fifth-biggest equity fund, is to adopt from July 1 as its benchmark the FTSE/JSE All Share capped index, which limits exposure to any single sha...
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