Welcome to Börse Frankfurt!

Shyft has just made it easy to invest in companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. We know you’re probably thinking, “the Frankfurt Stock Exchange?”, but rest assured, you’ll be turning those question marks into exclamation marks the moment you see the companies listed.

What comes to mind when you hear Germany? Beer? Precision engineering? Rammstein? Words with umlauts?

Here’s one German word with an umlaut that you can start using when speaking about Shyft: Börse. This is because we’ve added Börse Frankfurt aka Frankfurt Bourse aka Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE) to our share-trading app and web platform.

We’ve really taken a less is more approach when picking the first FSE-listed companies for Shyft. The 48 include large multinational German companies like Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft (BEI), home to beloved brands like Nivea and Labello; Siemens Energy (ENR), which designs, builds and operates renewable-energy systems; and Münchener Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft Aktiengesellschaft in München (MUV2), one of the biggest reinsurers in the world. (Don’t panic, call it Munich Re and everyone will understand.)

Why the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is important for South African investors*

You’ll find a wide choice of established companies like Beiersdorf alongside younger lifestyle and sports brands like Puma SE (PUM) and adidas AG (ADS). That creates a great opportunity to invest in different types of companies in different sectors and geographies to diversify your investment portfolio.

Diversification is one of the reasons we introduced the London Stock Exchange to Shyft at the same time as the FSE. It’s literally a case of not having all your eggs in one basket. Putting them in different baskets means spreading out the risk of losing everything when the bottom falls out of, say, the hospitality sector. (Read more on the London Stock Exchange and what it offers Shyft users here.) 

Once you’ve looked at the companies listed on each of these exchanges, you’ll notice that their characters differ. New York tends to have more tech and more American than non-American companies, London is known for a wider reach with more international companies, and Frankfurt has the who’s who of large multinationals with a presence around the globe.

Having all three on Shyft means you can choose which companies you’d like to buy shares in without being restricted to one geography or even one size of company. It really is a matter of bourses for courses.

The deal with the DAX

The DAX is the equivalent of the FTSE 100 on the London Stock Exchange and the S&P 500 on the New York Stock Exchange. Just like its counterparts in the UK and US, the DAX tracks the top 40 largest companies on the FSE. If the thought of choosing between Bayer AG (BAYN) and Beiersdorf AG (BEI) or the Mercedes-Benz Group AG (MBG) and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) is too much, you can safely invest in iShares Core DAX (DAXEX) aka the DAX.

Here’s a bit of dinner party trivia for you: DAX is short for Deutscher Aktien (Shares) Index.

Shyft lets you buy forex now, and shares later

To buy shares on the FSE, you need euros. Groan.

Don’t despair. Buying euros is easy on Shyft. In fact, Shyft is one of the few forex and share-trading platforms in South Africa that allows you to store foreign currency.

Whenever you see the rand having a good day or even a minute, use your Shyft wallet to buy euros and get more bang for your ZAR buck. Or when you have euros left after visiting Europe, leave it in your Shyft wallet. Unlike many forex platforms, we don’t require you to convert your foreign currency back to rand as soon as you’re back in the country. In fact, you can store selected foreign currency in your Shyft wallet indefinitely.

Then, when you’ve done your homework on the companies you like and the share price is right, you’re ready to buy your first shares on the FSE. And that’s just the start. With Shyft, the global investment playground is yours for the taking. What are you waiting for?

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*The content provided is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. You should always do your own research and/or seek professional advice before making investment decisions.