Absa Large Cap Fund,
Integre Large Cap
Prescient Fund.
The JSE is a small and highly
concentrated market. More than
50% of its market capitalisation is
held in the ten largest stocks on the
bourse, and the FTSE/JSE Top 40
Index constitutes around 83% of the
market's total value.
As the stocks in the Top 40 are
liquid and highly visible, they
tend to attract the majority of
investment. However there are
very few managers that restrict
themselves to only selecting from
these stocks and have their funds
included in the large cap equity
fund category.
What makes these funds interesting
is that since they can only invest
sparingly in mid or small cap stocks,
their portfolios are filled with
names that most investors would
recognise. This makes them a good
reference point for anyone running
his or her own portfolio of only blue
chip counters, or for someone who
is starting out in the stock market
and beginning with the big names.
This month we look at two of these
funds to see what they have been
buying and selling. By analysing
their portfolios at 30 June 2014 and
comparing those with how their
portfolios looked at the end of June
2015, we can tell which stocks they
bought and sold over the course of
last year.
The tables below show which
counters they bought into, and
which they sold out of over the 12
month period. The share must have
had a weighting of more than 1% to
be considered. The tables also show
any notable changes to positions
within the fund that were not just
the result of price movements.
Probably the most notable thing
about the Absa Large Cap Fund's
portfolio is that two of the stocks it
has bought into are not large caps.
Datatec and Nampak are both in
the Mid-Cap index.
Datatec's appeal is that it is heavily
exposed to the US market, which
is undoubtedly the most solid
economy in the world at the
moment. The share has performed
36
ISSUE 6 – SEPTEMBER 2015
Absa Large Cap Fund
In
Out
Datatec
Barclays Africa
Investec
Mediclinic
Liberty
Tongaat Hulett
Mr Price
Nampak
Netcare
Up
Down
Naspers
Anglo American
Reinet
Glencore
Steinhoff
Mondi
Bidvest
Woolworths
Source: Morningstar
well over the last year, up around
25% when the overall market has
been negative.
Nampak's focus is closer to home,
with operations throughout Africa.
It is finding conditions here far
more difficult and this is reflected in
a share price that is down over 30%
in the last 12 months.
Other interesting changes to the
portfolio are the switches it has
made within specific sectors. Among
the banks it has included Investec
at the expense of Barclays Africa,
and it has moved into Netcare over
Mediclinic in the healthcare sector.
It has also shown a move away from
resources as this segment of the
market has continued to struggle.
It has down-weighted its exposure
to the big diversified miners Anglo
American and Glencore, sold a large
portion of its Mondi shares, and
also moved out of agricultural and
agri-processing counter Tongaat
Hulett.
Absa has also shown a preference
for two high-flying retailers, despite
concerns around the South African
consumer. It beefed up its exposure
to Woolworths while buying into Mr
Price.
These have both been strong
Integre Large Cap Prescient Fund
In
Out
Satrix Indi Portfolio
Truworths
Imperial
Up
Growthpoint
Source: Morningstar
Down