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A2X well positioned to face the challenges of the new year

Published Date: 2021-01-27 | Source: INCE|Community | Author: A2X Markets

Media Statement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sandton, Tuesday, 26 January 2021: The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has ushered in significant uncertainty early in the new year, and while key participants in the financial sector are likely to continue taking a cautious approach to business, the prospect of a vaccine roll-out during the course year and the many lessons learnt from the first wave should help lay the foundation for a better year.

Most participants in the financial sector underwent a rapid and painful adjustment to enable them to survive and continue operating when the virus first hit. And while the second wave may be worse in terms of infections and deaths, the big shift to digital and remote working has largely taken place. This puts business in a much healthier position to tackle the second wave, says A2X Markets CEO Kevin Brady, one of South Africa's newest stock exchanges and the leading exchange for secondary listings.

Says Brady: "The focus in 2021 is likely to shift from last year's big survival challenges, which consumed a huge amount of time and resources, to refining their digital strategy and platforms, staff well-being and productivity and, of course, a relentless focus on cost savings. Many companies will have experienced the benefit of technology-driven savings and will now look to extract even greater efficiencies going forward."

Brady believes that companies that are able to leverage their technology platform to create an efficient and agile business that can deliver cost-effective solutions and products to their clients, while creating a fun and trusted work environment, will be the winners of tomorrow.

He believes A2X is well positioned to face the challenges of the new year as it uses the latest stock exchange technology and passes on efficiency gains in the form of much lower fees. In addition, the narrower spreads quoted on the exchange offer huge savings to investors in the form of price improvement. In a tough economic environment, he expects investors to pay increasing attention to reducing cost while at the same time trying to eke out improved returns.

It is part of the reason why A2X is enjoying continued growth in onboarding new companies to its platform as many want to offer their shareholders the opportunity to capture these very benefits.

In December 2020, A2X onboarded both Prosus, which is regarded as Europe's largest tech company, and Capital Appreciation, a leading provider of financial technology in South Africa.

This has brought the number of listed securities on A2X to 40 with a combined market value of R5,4 trillion. A2X is now the second-largest exchange in Africa by market value, after commencing its operations a mere three years ago.

Brady says the company's growing position is likely to be sustained by pending new regulation that includes the Best Execution rule, which will see brokers having to obtain the best possible result for their clients when executing orders on their behalf. The potential savings this regulation could unlock for end investors are estimated to be upwards of R1 billion per year.

The A2X focus in 2021 will be on expanding the range of securities available for trade on its platform.

"We remain committed to offering choices to all market participants. In addition to growing the number of secondary listings, A2X will also look to attract new listings to the platform that were previously not available to mainstream investors.

"We have also applied to the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) for approval to introduce a series of new trade types. These additions are aimed at assisting both investors and brokers to source fresh liquidity while at the same time reducing friction costs and improving market quality. The trade types have proven successful in both the United Kingdom and Europe and, when approved for local use, will assist in helping us grow and develop our market in line with international best practice," says Brady.

ENDS

About A2X

A2X Markets (A2X) is a South African stock exchange playing an integral part in the progression of the South African market-place. A2X began trading on 6 October 2017 and was named Best New Stock Exchange Africa 2019 in the 2019 Global Banjing & Finance Awards®. In addition, it won the category for Fastest Growing Stock Exchange South Africa 2020 in the 2020 Global Banjing & Finance Awards®, and was the International Business Magazine Award Winner 2020 for Best New Stock Exchange Africa 2020

An experienced team, advanced technology and an agile environment enable A2X to provide an efficient and cost-effective trading venue to secondary list and trade shares, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded notes (ETNs).

A2X has appointed Strate as its central securities depository and operates within the proven and reliable South African settlement structure. It uses technology developed by the UK's Aquis Technologies, which includes proven exchange-matching and surveillance systems and a clearing platform custom-built for A2X. The end-to-end costs of transacting on A2X are around 50% lower than the other trading venue in South Africa where the same shares can be traded.

www.a2x.co.za

Shares available for trade on A2X

Security Code	Security Name	Marjet Cap
ACG	Anchor Group	R913 021 591
AFT	Afrimat	R6 284 224 852
AIL	African Rainbow Capital Inv	R4 678 101 204

APN	Aspen Pharmacare	R66 221 989 568
ARI	African Rainbow Minerals	R64 719 983 297
ASC	Ascendis Health	R371 997 169
AVI	AVI	R24 177 846 098
CLH	City Lodge Hotels	R2 013 113 857
CML	Coronation Fund Managers	R16 503 521 632
CTA	Capital Appreciation	R1 441 000 000
EQU	Equites Property Fund	R10 801 333 716
EXX	Exxaro Resources	R59 304 987 639
FBR	Famous Brands	R4 509 102 780
FVT	Fairvest Property Holdings	R1 781 719 522
GLD	NewGold ETF	R18 518 646 227
GRT	GrowthPoint Properties	R41 238 060 533
HDC	Hudaco Industries	R2 799 063 380
HUG	Huge Group	R1 040 245 958
IVT	Invicta Holdings	R1 856 387 388
IVTP	Invicta Holdings Ltd pref	R497 775 000
MRP	Mr Price Group	R43 268 516 263
MTM	Momentum Metropolitan	R24 049 454 217
NGPLD	NewGold Palladium ETF	R630 158 764
NGPLT	NewGold Platinum ETF	R9 369 900 000
NPN	Naspers Ltd -N-	R1 552 161 410 712
NRP	NEPI Rockcastle	R55 162 758 676
PRX	Prosus N.V.	R2 940 620 246 700
REN	Renergen	R1 502 928 177
SBK	Standard Bank Group	R202 022 865 057
SBPP	Standard Bank Group pref	R3 544 512 391
SLM	Sanlam	R129 387 213 105
SNT	Santam	R32 349 625 549
SOL	Sasol	R101 366 247 132
SWXTR2	Investec Swix Top 40 Tri ETN	R1 051 850 000
SYG	Sygnia	R2 894 979 023
TCP	Transaction Capital	R15 980 682 409
THA	Tharisa	R7 040 000 000
TOPTR2	Investec Top 40 Tri ETN	R1 164 967 500
VUN	Vunani	R443 178 766
ZCL	Zarclear Holdings	R802 533 221
		R5 454 486 149 071