Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Spire Awards Showcase Excellence In Fixed Income, Currency And Commodity Derivatives Markets

ABSA Capital, Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) and Nedbank took home the big awards of the evening at the 15^th annual Spire awards as the winners of the Best Bonds House, Best Fixed Income and Currencies House, Best FX House and Best Research House and Best Interest Derivative House respectively at the awards last night.

RMB, took home a total of 11 awards on the evening.  The awards, hosted by the JSE recognise excellence in South Africa’s fixed income, currency and commodity derivatives markets.

Fixed income instruments play an important role in the portfolios of most pension funds and this means that most South Africans who contribute to pension funds are exposed to this type of invest. “The awards not only allow the JSE to showcase the successes of our issuers, members and clients but also showcase the achievements of the leading players in the industry to investors," says Bernard Claassens, Manager: Fixed Income at the JSE.

The Spire Awards are awarded based on trading volumes and votes are cast by clients. Claassens says that the voting process ensures that the awards remain credible and creates a highly competitive environment. "The JSE congratulates this year's winners. The awards allow us to recognise the hard work and innovation of a range of different market participants, from brokers to researchers and sales teams as well as issuers."

Between January and September 2016 the Bond market has seen good growth which includes:

• Overall volumes on the Bond Market increased by 28%  to R23.6 trillion in 2016 , the number is 4% higher than the  R22.7 trillion nominal turnover traded  for the whole of 2015;
• The Repo Market is up 33% to R16.7 trillion in 2016 compared to the same period in 2015;
• The Nominal Standard Turnover increased by 13% year on year from the R5.5 trillion recorded last  year to R6.2 trillion in 2016 over the same period.

The winners for 2016 are as follows: