Unit Trust Fund Managers Had Ksh 58 Billion in Assets in 2018

The Total Assets Under Management (“AUM”) held by Unit Trust Fund Managers grew moderately by 4.3 percent to 58.0 billion shillings in 2018 from 55.6 billion shillings recorded in 2017 according to stats from Cytonn Investments.

Money Market Funds continue to be the most popular product with the AUM held by Money Market Funds having grown by 8.9 percent to 48.5 billion shillings in 2018 from 44.5 billion shillings recorded in 2017.

CIC Asset Managers recorded the strongest growth in AUM of 36.3 percent to 20.3 billion shillings in 2018 from 14.9 billion shillings in 2017.

For the top ten fund managers by AUM, Sanlam Investments recorded the highest decline in AUM of 31.7 percent to 1.8 billion shillings in 2018 from 2.6 billion shillings in 2017.

CIC Asset Managers remains the largest overall Unit Trust Fund Manager with a market share at 34.9 percent in 2018, up from 26.7 percent in 2017.

Money Market Funds remain the largest Unit Trust Fund, with a market share of 84.3 percent in 2018, up from 80.7 percent in 2017.

In 2018, the number of Fund Managers licensed by the Capital Markets Authority stood at 26. New entrants into the Fund Management business include Cytonn Asset Managers Limited, the regulated affiliate of Cytonn Investments Management Plc, licensed on 22^nd March 2018.

Cytonn Asset Managers Limited has launched its Unit Trust Funds including; Cytonn Money Market Fund, Cytonn Equity Fun, and Cytonn Balanced Fund,

The 2018 results do not cover Stanlib Kenya as they had not published their financials as of 31^st March 2019 as required by the regulations.

Cytonn Money Market Fund tops this list with the most competitive yield, having offered an average effective annual yield of 11.5 percent p.a. in 2018.

The top five Money Market Funds in terms of the average effective annual yield declared in 2018 are as below:

1. Cytonn Money Market Fund – 11.5%
2. Nabo Africa KES Money Market Fund – 10.2%
3. CIC Money Market Fund – 10.1%
4. Madisson Money Market Fund – 9.9%
5. Zimele Money Market Fund – 9.9%

The percentages show the 2018 average effective annual yield per annum.

As at the end of 2018, the total Unit Trust Funds AUM grew by 4.3 percent to close at 58.0 billion shillings up from 55.6 billion shillings in 2017. The top five Fund Managers control 82.4 percent of the total Unit Trust Funds AUM.

CIC Asset Managers controls 34.9 percent of the market share followed by British American Asser with 15.2 percent of market share. Old Mutual, ICEA Lion and Commercial Bank of Africa control 11.3, 12.0 and 8.9 percent of market share respectively.

Unit Trust Funds assets recorded improved growth of 4.3 percent in 2018, compared to a negative growth of 1.5 percent in 2017, while growth for bank deposits and pension assets slowed down in 2018 to 11.3 percent and 9.8 percent from 12.6 percent and 18.3 percent recorded in 2017. Bank assets growth was 10.2 percent in 2018, compared to 10.1 percent in 2017.