‘Long-Term Investing Is Meant To Be Boring'

As the Satrix 40 reaches two decades since listing on the JSE, Simon Brown takes a look at the history of exchange-traded funds and why they are a solid investment.

- Simon Brown

The 27th of November marks the 20th anniversary of the listing of the first exchange-traded fund (ETF) in South Africa – the Satrix 40 (STX40*). It listed at 774c and at the time of writing, it was trading at 5 267c. Dividends received over the 20 years amount to another 1 517c, giving a total return of some 776% over the two decades. Not yet a ten-bagger, but a great return for doing nothing (aside from buying at listing).