S&P Rates South African Money Funds
S&P Global Ratings published a release titled, "Four Nedgroup Funds Assigned South African National Scale Fund Credit Quality And Volatility Ratings," which tells us, "S&P Global Ratings ... said it has assigned its South African national scale (SANS) fund credit quality (FCQR) and fund volatility ratings (FVR) to three money market funds and one fixed income fund, sponsored by Nedgroup Investments (Pty) Ltd. The funds are domiciled in South Africa and managed by Taquanta Asset Managers (Pty) Ltd., a specialist cash and fixed income investment boutique based in Cape Town. The South African national scale fund credit quality and fund volatility ratings have been assigned as follows: Nedgroup Investments Prime Money Market Fund:'zaAAAf/zaS1+'; Nedgroup Investments Corporate Money Market Fund:'zaAA+f/zaS1+'; Nedgroup Investments Money Market Fund:'zaAAf/zaS1+’; and, Nedgroup Investments Core Income Fund:'zaAA-f/zaS1+'." S&P says, "The assigned 'zaS1+' FVR signifies that, in our view, the funds exhibit extremely low volatility of returns, comparable with a portfolio of one-year commercial bank deposit rates denominated in the base currency of the fund, (South African rand; ZAR). We assigned the FVRs following our review of historical volatility and the dispersion of fund returns relative to reference indices. Next, we evaluated portfolio risk considering duration, credit exposures, liquidity, derivatives, leverage, foreign currency, and investment concentration. We determined that these portfolio risk factors were consistent and therefore made no adjustment to the preliminary FVR in our review of return volatility and dispersion." They add, "Nedgroup Investments Prime Money Market Fund (zaAAAf/zaS1+) aims to maximize interest income, preserve the portfolio's capital, and provide immediate liquidity, by maintaining a certain minimum of assets in liquid form as determined by the manager and with a maximum instrument term to final maturity of 13 months. As of March 31, 2024, the fund had 74% portfolio exposure to the Republic of South Africa; 80% of the portfolio was maturing within three months and had recorded a weighted-average maturity of 0.15 years (approximately 55 days). We note the maximum fund weighted-average duration is limited to 90 days and over the past four years has averaged about 67 days." Finally, S&P tells us, "The funds sponsor, Nedgroup Investments Pty Ltd., is a subsidiary of Nedbank Group Ltd.... In our view, the Cape Town-based portfolio management team at Taquanta Asset Managers (Pty) Ltd. is a highly experienced group of cash and treasury investment professionals. They are supported by a risk management infrastructure and systems commensurate with an asset management entity that has an established track record in managing fixed-income assets for clients in South Africa. The rated funds belong to the Nedgroup Collective Investments Ltd. scheme, which has been approved under the deed executed under the Collective Investment Schemes Control Act, 2002 (Act No. 45 of 2002). Fund administration services are provided internally by Taquanta Asset Managers (Pty) Ltd. and The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited acts in the capacity of trustee and custodian to the scheme."
