FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange (“FMDQ” or “the OTC Exchange”), at a ceremony which held at its offices on Monday, March 13, 2017, welcomed the pioneer listing of an exchange traded fund (ETF) on its platform – The Vetiva S&P Nigerian Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund (“the Vetiva S&P ETF”). The listing of this Fund on its platform, validates the OTC Exchange’s goal of bringing the Nigerian fixed income market operations under a single governance structure. It further creates the opportunity for issuers and investors to tap into and utilise the mass benefits availed by the OTC Exchange in the Nigerian debt capital market – a market which FMDQ is focused on transforming and aligning with global standards.

In line with the tradition of the OTC Exchange, the Fund Manager, Vetiva Fund Managers Ltd., represented by its Managing Director, Mr. Damilola Ajayi; alongside the Registration Member (Listings) and sponsor of the Fund on FMDQ’s platform, Vetiva Securities Ltd., represented by Mr. Abiodun Oliyide, Group Head Fixed Income Sales & Trading, amongst others, were hosted to a unique ceremony. Highlights of the ceremony included the signing of the FMDQ Funds Listing Register by the Fund Manager, sponsor of the Fund and FMDQ; the presentation of the FMDQ Funds Listing Certificate to the Fund Manager, the unveiling of the Funds Listing plaque and scroll, and the special autograph impression, all in favour of the Fund Manager. The Registration Member (Listings) and sponsor of the Fund on the OTC Exchange was also presented with a tombstone.

Welcoming the guests to the ceremony, Ms. Tumi Sekoni, Vice President & Divisional Head, Marketing & Business Development at FMDQ, congratulated the Fund Manager for recognising the efficiency and reliability of the FMDQ platform and its subsequent decision to list the its ETF on same. According to Ms. Sekoni, the FMDQ Listings and Quotations service has been tailored to provide Fund Managers and other issuers, an avenue to improve the credibility of their issues and in turn benefit from the information transparency which such a listing on FMDQ guarantees.

Mr. Damilola Ajayi, in his special address, remarked that, “The Vetiva S&P Nigerian Sovereign Bond ETF, provides access to a basket of Federal Government long-dated securities and creates a mechanism for retail investors to trade these securities freely”. He further commented that the ability to save and invest is crucial to individual and collective prosperity and, as a nation, any effort geared toward developing a platform to enhance this culture is an effort in the right direction. The Vetiva S&P ETF was developed to track the S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Index. The Index was launched in December 2013 and tracks the performance of local currency denominated sovereign long-dated debt publicly issued by the Federal Government of Nigeria. The Index level is available through S&P Dow Jones Indices’ website with a ticker symbol of SPFINGU.

This listing on FMDQ, shall avail the ETF benefits which include but are not limited to, global visibility through the dedicated ‘Funds’ page on FMDQ’s corporate website and transparency to the ETF through its inclusion in the FMDQ Daily Quotations List. FMDQ shall continue to lend itself a worthy platform, spearheading initiatives targeted at improving liquidity of Funds listed on its platform, thereby supporting the aspirations of Fund Managers and making the markets within its purview globally competitive; with a view to positioning the Nigerian financial markets towards achieving its full potential of driving growth and development in the nation.