Zimele Mbanjwa
The fourth quarter of 2024 saw the FNB ETNs regain momentum after a soft showing in the preceding quarter. The Compo ETNs (with currency exposure) outperformed the Quanto ETNs (without currency exposure) because of rand weakness during the period. Over the full year, the Quanto ETN's and the Compo ETN's performances were very close, with the Quanto ETNs having outperformed in the second and third quarters when the rand was stronger.
In 4Q24, ten of the FNB ETN's, being Adobe, Berkshire Hathaway, Coca Cola, Eli Lilly, Ford Motors, the Clean Energy ETN, the Water ETF, McDonalds, Microsoft, and the Socially Responsible ETF, delivered negative returns in US dollars. Adobe plunged following soft guidance, Coca Cola saw volumes remain under pressure due to subdued consumer demand across all regions, and Eli Lilly missed consensus estimates and downwardly revised full-year guidance on the back of lower-than-expected sales of its blockbuster diabetes and anti-obesity treatments Mounjaro and Zepbound. Clean Energy stocks continued to underperform following euphoric gains till the start of last year. The best performing ETNs were Tesla (rallied post Trump's election win along with other 'Trump trade' stocks, and crypto), and Netflix (on strong streaming paid memberships growth despite price increases across several markets). Amazon, Alphabet, Booking Holdings, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Nvidia, PayPal and Visa also performed well in the quarter
The top performers over one year were Netflix, Meta, and Tesla. The worst performers were the Clean Energy ETN, Adobe, and Ford..
