All-Tech index sees 41% growth in first year

The S&P/ASX All Technology index has gained 41% as it passes its one-year anniversary, with nearly three-quarters of returns coming from buy now, pay later provider Afterpay.

The index was launched on 24 February, 2020, as a broad representation of the 46 ASX-listed technology companies including small-cap companies which were not yet members of the ASX 300. It covered multiple sectors including electronics, internet retail, interactive media and healthcare technology.

As of 14 February, the index provider said the index rose 41% compared to returns of 25% by the tech-heavy US Nasdaq index over the same period.

Since launch, the number of constituents had risen from 46 to 69 while the market cap had increased from $80 billion to $182 billion, a rise of 78%.

“Afterpay accounted for more than three-quarters of the S&P/ASX All Technology Index’s total return during its first year, as its nearly 300% price increase propelled the company to the top of the index. In fact, Afterpay is now the 12^th-largest Australian company by market cap, up from number 52 a year ago,” S&P said.

In its half-year results released to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), the firm said the number of customers had risen by 80% to 13.1 million. Group total income was $417 million, up 89% on the same period a year ago.

While Afterpay was the largest index member, rising from third-largest at launch when it had a weighting of 9.3%, there was a 25% single stock cap in order to prevent one company dominating the index and to improve diversity.

Afterpay was held by Australian equity funds such as First Sentier Wholesale Australian Share, Ausbil Active Sustainable Equity and Bennelong Australian Equities.

The top-performing stock overall was Redbubble which gained 412% while Xero, NextDC and Seek were also strong performers during the year.