Magda and the ‘ETF U-turn’
Sygnia’s R325m U-turn on ETFs
A R325m deal will boost Sygnia’s assets and close a big gap in the asset manager’s suite of products
Magda Wierzycka, CEO of Sygnia Asset Management, wants to disrupt the world of exchange traded funds (ETFs) — a world she has been a staunch critic of for years. "The ETF industry hated me," Wierzycka admits. It will be even more miffed after Sygnia announced last week that it had bought Deutsche Bank’s JSE-listed db X-tracker (DBX) ETFs for R325m, about 10 times DBX’s earnings. Overnight, this adds R11.3bn to Sygnia’s assets under management. At September 2016, Sygnia had R16.9bn in its index tracking funds and R11.9bn in its unit trust funds, so the purchase is a big deal, giving Sygnia considerable clout in the ETF arena. But what has piqued the interest of her rivals is Wierzycka’s U-turn on ETFs.
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