A2X CEO Kevin Brady says although getting the licence was a long process eight years ago and it then took three years to get to the starting line, the exchange has seen pleasing growth since it opened its doors five years ago. A2X now has 93 listed instruments with a combined market capitalisation of R5.6-trillion. According to the JSE website, it has 800 listed securities and is the 20th-largest listed exchange in the world.

New listings announced in November include Pick n Pay, Attacq, Life Healthcare, Woolworths, Truworths and Hyprop. Life Healthcare joins Netcare, Aspen and Ascendis in the healthcare sector with a secondary listing on A2X. 

Life Healthcare’s group chief executive, Peter Wharton-Hood, says the hospital group uses innovative technology and efficiencies to provide patients with quality care and improved outcomes. 

“Our listing on A2X extends this principle to our shareholders by providing them with an alternative platform, that, through the use of the latest high-performance technology, offers savings in the form of price improvement and lower exchange fees whenever they transact in Life Healthcare shares,” he says.

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Commenting on the Hyprop listing, Brady says this brings the number of property stocks listed on A2X to nine and represents almost 60% of the sector by market cap. The other eight listed property stocks on the exchange are Equites Property Fund, Fairvest, Growthpoint Properties, MAS, NEPI Rockcastle, SA Corporate Real Estate, and Stor-Age.

“Hyprop’s addition further endorses the benefits a secondary listing creates for a company’s investors; namely, choice, lower fees, added liquidity and narrower spreads,” he says.

Total listings include 59 companies and 39 exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The most recent ETF to list on A2X was the Sygnia Itrix Sustainable Economy ETF, which has been available for trade on the platform since 24 October. 

Sygnia’s head of investments, Kyle Hulett, says that where sustainability was once viewed as a handbrake to economic growth, it has become a high-growth economic opportunity for innovative companies and the investors supporting them. 

“Our latest ETF gives our investors the opportunity to invest in 300 top industrial and energy stocks while helping fight climate change,” he says.

Most emerging markets have multiple exchanges, which are sometimes called multilateral trading facilities or alternative trading venues. What it means is that once a company has that listing in that jurisdiction, you can buy and sell those shares on multiple platforms, in the same way that you can buy a bottle of milk from various shops at slightly differing prices.

“From a company perspective, there is no cost to list, no risk and no extra regulation. A company just has to make sure they keep their primary listing on the JSE or the Cape Town Stock Exchange in good order. On the positive side, the secondary listing starts attracting additional liquidity for the company’s shares, and our exchange fees [for investors] are about half that of competitors,” Brady says. DM/BM