Assets held by Kenyan mutual funds grew to a record KSh111 billion in the first quarter of this year, up from KSh76.3 billion in the first quarter of 2020 according to the CMA Quarterly Statistical Bulletin. 15 out of the 19 registered unit trust schemes booked growth in assets in the first quarter. Genghis Unit Trust Funds, Equity Investment Bank, Madison Asset Unit Trust Funds, and Amana Unit Trust Funds were the only fund managers to register a decline in assets under management during the quarter.
CIC Unit Trust Scheme was the top fund manager in Kenya in terms of assets under management, with assets worth KSh44.8 billion at the end of the quarter. Other leading fund managers were Britam Unit Trust Scheme, NCBA Unit Trust Scheme, ICEA Unit Trust Scheme, and Sanlam Unit Trust Scheme.
Coop Unit Trust Scheme registered the highest growth of 36%, in terms of assets under management, in the first three months of this year to KSh 1.371 billion in March 2021 from KSh 1.01 billion in December 2020. In contrast, Amana Unit Trust Funds booked the sharpest decline of 44.2% to KSh75.6 million at the end of Q1 2021 compared to KSh135.4 million at the start of the quarter.
Fund managers put 44.4% of the assets under management in government securities in Q1 2021, a drop from 50.5% invested in government securities in the same period last year. KSh45.6 billion, equivalent to 41.1% was invested in fixed deposits and only KSh6.1 billion (5.5%) was invested in NSE Listed Securities. The asset managers put KSh562.6 million (0.51%) of assets under management in offshore investments and KSh267 million (0.24%) of assets under management in immovable property.
