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How to read the Roundup for local fundsNEW investors in unit trust funds may wonder what the Unit Trust Roundup table, printed on this page, is all about. The table offers two different sets of information: the latest buying and selling unit prices of each fund, and the performance history and size of the fund. The latter set of figures is provided on a weekly basis by Micropal South Africa. Here's a detailed description of the contents of each column.
LATEST PRICES The buy price indicates the price you will pay when buying units in the fund, and the sell price is the price at which the management company will buy back your units when you liquidate your investment. The yield is the annual income the fund can hope to achieve and is expressed as a percentage of the sell price. These figures are provided by Sapa after Friday's close of trade, and they do not form part of the Micropal performance table.
SECTOR AND FUND NAME This column contains the relevant sector name, followed by the names of all funds falling into that sector. There are 13 sectors, the latest addition being the smaller companies sector. The fund names are listed alphabetically. The sectors are determined by the Association of Unit Trusts.
ONE-YEAR GROWTH This column assumes, for each fund, that units were purchased at the quoted buying price one year ago, and then sold at the quoted selling price at the end of the period (August 8 1997 in this week's table). All income distribution payments the investor would have been entitled to during the period have been reinvested. The sector average figure is a good performance benchmark for individual funds. The total number of funds in the sector is also shown.
THREE-YEAR GROWTH This column assumes, for each fund, that units were purchased at the buying price three years ago, and then sold at the selling price at the end of the period (August 8 1997 in this week's table). All income payments that the investor would have been entitled to during the period have been reinvested. The return was then annualised, thus giving an indication of the annual growth that a fund produced over the three-year period. The annualised growth rate is determined using a mathematical formula (broadly calculated at a daily rate).
RANK This shows the position of each fund within its sector over the three-year period - the fund ranked No 1 is the best performer.
FIVE-YEAR GROWTH This column assumes, for each fund, that units were purchased at the buying price five years ago, and then sold at the selling price at the end of the period (August 8 1997 in this week's table). All income payments have been reinvested. The total return is then annualised, providing an indication of the annual return over that period.
FUND SIZE This shows the size, in millions of rand, of each fund on the date of the performance table (August 8 1997 in this week's table).
VOLATILITY This column lists the volatility (a measure of risk) for each fund. The higher the figure, the higher the risk of a fund. Micropal uses the standard deviation of monthly returns over a 36-month period. This period is accepted internationally as an optimum period.
Micropal is an international company providing fund data, and monitors more than 30 000 funds across the globe on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Micropal statistics are quoted in more than 200 printed and on-line media. Micropal SA can be reached at PO Box 1081, Kloof, 3640 or on their website at www.micropal.com.
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