The first-ever student’s unit trust fund in Kenya was recently launched in under the name Wanafunzi Investment Unit Trust Fund. The fund is regulated by the Capital Markets Authority and managed by Nabo Capital with KCB Group as the custodian bank.
Wanafunzi Investment is an initiative that aims at instilling an early culture of savings among university students. It is a student-friendly platform that enables them to save and start an early foundation in asset growth which is key for economic and social transformation.
The platform is expected to teach on financial literacy through capacity building programs that will help the student investors gain entrepreneurial and management skills.
Capital Markets Authority of Kenya Chief Executive Officer, Paul Muthaura stated that the platform will move students from being retail investors to being collective participants in the economy.
The project will be part of the Ksh 66.3 billion assets under management that make up collective investment schemes and Ksh 2.3 trillion institutional assets under management in Kenya.
With awareness campaigns across universities and colleges, students will be sensitized and will open accounts in the unit trust and continuously save by dialling *483*004#.
Wanafunzi Investment Trust Fund aims to raise ksh 1.5 billion in the next three years and the customers will expect an average return of about 8.4% and the subscribers can liquidate their investment after 4 years or earlier.
