Nerina Visser, formerly Head of Beta Solutions at Nedbank Capital, has joined etfSA.co.za as a Director of the holding company.

Visser has many years’ experience in the South Africa asset management industry and has specialised, over the past number of years, in exchange traded products (ETP).

She established the BettaBeta ETF company at Nedbank Capital, which listed two innovative new ETFs, the BettaBeta Equally Weighted Top 40 ETF and the BettaBeta BGreen ETF, on the JSE.

She also managed a number of passive portfolios for clients of Nedbank Capital.

Visser said: “I am excited to be able to contribute to the growth and development of the exchange traded product industry in South African on an independent basis by joining etfSA.co.za, which has a fine reputation as a specialised contributor of services, information and platforms, dedicated to ETPs.”

She believes that “the passive investment management industry in South Africa is now gaining traction and that momentum should accelerate in the next few years, due to the market now accepting the often superior performance of passive investment techniques, the low costs, low risks, transparency and easy-to-understand nature of JSE listed ETPs”.

Alongside Mike Brown, founder of etfSA.co.za, Visser will be primarily involved in launching a specialised managed portfolio business, consisting only of ETP portfolios, to provide balanced mandates across all asset classes and market sectors.

A Category II FSP license has been secured for this purpose.

The portfolio management business has been established in response to the growing interest by investors in multi-asset balanced portfolios, using ETFs and ETNs as the building blocks of such portfolios.

In addition, Visser will continue to help manage the portfolios for the etfSA Retirement Annuity Fund and for a Living Annuity Fund to be launched by etfSA.co.za in the near future.

Visser and Brown will also offer independent consulting services on ETPs for the issuers of such products on the JSE and other stock markets throughout Africa.

Brown said that etfSA now has a large base of individual investors, many of them first time investors in the equity or local markets through etfSA.co.za, but is now finding more and more demand for its services by higher net worth individuals, corporate and institutional clients.

“Nerina Visser, with her extensive experience, wide contacts and outstanding reputation as one of the leaders of the ETP business, will add great value to etfSA.co.za in growing the business in the years to come,” he said.