A2X aims to attract secondary listings of the burgeoning actively managed exchange-traded funds (AMETFs) market as the bourse looks to enhance optionality for the investor community.
A2X, which serves as a secondary listing venue for companies, offering enhanced trading efficiency and cost savings, burst onto the scene in 2017.
The stock exchange has approached the FSCA to apply for an amendment to its listing requirements to enable it to house secondary listings of AMETFs and actively managed certificates.
AMETFS have become popular worldwide and in South Africa, as they allow portfolio managers to actively select securities to outperform a benchmark, rather than just tracking an index.
Research by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, “Decoding Active ETFs”, projects global actively managed ETF assets will triple to $4.2-trillion by 2030, from $1.4-trillion last year.
The South African market has averaged annual growth of more than 18% over the past five years, and by September 2025 South Africa’s ETF assets under management were worth more than R285bn.
ETFs appeal particularly to younger investors.
South Africa’s largest asset manager, Ninety One, last year listed two AMETFs on the JSE, expanding its ability to serve a broader investor base with differentiated, multi-asset income products.
Unlike traditional passive ETFs, which have dominated the sector and simply replicate indices, Ninety One’s AMETFs are actively managed, multi-asset income portfolios that dynamically adjust to changing market conditions and uncover opportunities through research-driven decision-making.
Each strategy blends asset classes such as bonds, credit, cash, property and offshore holdings to deliver income, diversification and resilience in a single listed instrument.
A2X has not been shy about protecting its turf from its biggest rival, the JSE. The JSE and the Competition Commission are headed for a legal showdown next year over allegations that Africa’s largest bourse has breached the country’s antitrust law by starving smaller rival A2X of trading volumes to maintain its market dominance.
At the heart of A2X’s complaint is that the JSE has engaged in various forms of exclusionary conduct seeking to slow its growth and expansion in the secondary trading market by starving it of the necessary scale and trading volumes.
The competition watchdog has now found that there is merit in A2X’s complaint and has asked the tribunal to fine the JSE 10% of its revenue, among other steps.
The secondary listing of paper and plastics packaging and recycling business Mpact last year brought the number of instruments available for trade on A2X to 175, representing a combined market capitalisation of about R10-trillion, half of that of the JSE.
Many JSE top 40 listed groups, such as AngloGold Ashanti, Sanlam, Discovery, Standard Bank, Prosus and Naspers, are listed on A2X.
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