Stanbic IBTC, a member of Standard Bank Group, has announced public offering of the Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (SIDF) and SIAML Pension ETF 40, following the granting of relevant approvals by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

The initial public offerings (IPOs) for units of both Funds opened on Monday, September 26, 2016 and will close on Wednesday, November 2, 2016.

The Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund provides retail and institutional investors the opportunity to seek exposure in attractive dollar-denominated securities to serve as a devaluation hedge as well as to optimize returns on investments.

Bunmi Dayo-Olagunju, CEO of Stanbic IBTC Asset Management, said the Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund was launched based on the need to spur the preservation and appreciation of wealth.

“We believe that even in these volatile times, the Fund will foster the diversification of portfolios and investments in currency terms, which in turn will help in the preservation and appreciation of wealth for investors,” she said.

Meanwhile, the SIAML Pension ETF 40 is an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) that will mirror the Pension 40 Index (Pension Index), replicating as closely as possible the total return of the NSE Pension 40 Index.

The Index, launched last year by the Nigerian Stock Exchange to drive market optimization, is a tracking mechanism for investors, particularly institutional investors like Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), that invest in line with guidelines set out by the National Pension Commission.

The NSE Pension Index monitors the top 40 most capitalized and liquid companies in the market.

Dayo-Olagunju said that the primary objective of the SIAML Pension ETF 40 is to provide investors access to the most liquid publicly quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange that are compliant with the regulatory requirements for investing pension assets in terms of taxable profits, free float, dividend, sector and individual stock weighting.

“The SIAML Pension ETF 40 is designed as an instrument of choice for PFAs, Life Assurance companies, institutional investors, as well as foreign portfolio managers who are desirous of the Nigerian exposure with minimal liquidity and exit risk,” she added.

Under the terms of the deal, there will be 5,000,000 units of the Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (SIDF) available at $1 each and multiples of 500 units thereafter.

In the offering for the SIAML Pension ETF 40, there will be 10,000,000 units available for subscription at 100 each at par and multiples of 10,000 units thereafter.

The Fund has an offer size of N1bn.

Apart from SIAML as the fund manager, First Registrars and Investor Services will serve as the registrar while Stanbic IBTC Capital is the issuing house.

Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers is the authorized dealer; FBN Trustees will serve as trustees while Standard Chartered Bank is the offer custodian.

Stanbic IBTC Asset Management is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, which is part of the Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest bank by assets.

According to Dayo-Olagunju, Stanbic IBTC Asset Management will “continue to leverage its expertise in asset and wealth management, built over the past 20 years, as well as the Stanbic IBTC Group’s rich heritage in corporate and investment banking to provide quality products and services that will not only deepen the market but enhance transparency, add value and lead to investor confidence”.