MONEY MARKET FUNDS
Money Market Funds (MMFs) are also known as low-risk Unit Trusts. They are more high-yielding than regular savings accounts and as highly liquid as current accounts.
Most MMFs earn members an interest of up to 9–11% per annum while only enjoying a 15% withholding tax.
In terms of liquidity, an investor can withdraw funds in 1–3 days.
Money Market Funds invest in short-term, high-yielding money market instruments like:
- Treasury bonds
- Commercial papers
- Treasury bills
- Fixed deposits
- Corporate bonds
- Bank deposits
Below are the Top 10 Money Market Funds in Kenya: March 2023;
| No. | MONEY MARKET FUND (KES) | Average Effective Annual Rate (%) |
| 1 | Cytonn Money Market Fund | 10.99 |
| 2 | Madison Money Market Fund | 10.46 |
| 3 | Apollo Money Market Fund | 10.33 |
| 4 | Kuza Money Market Fund | 10.07 |
| 5 | Zimele Money Market Fund | 9.99 |
| 6 | Jubilee Money Market Fund | 9.97 |
| 7 | Nabo Money Market Fund | 9.95 |
| 8 | Old Mutual Money Market Fund | 9.94 |
| 9 | Sanlam Money Market Fund | 9.80 |
| 10 | Co-op Money Market Fund | 9.63 |
FIXED INCOME SECURITIES:
TREASURY BONDS
Earlier in the month, CBK issued a 17-year amortized Infrastructure Bond seeking to initially raise KES. 50Bn and an additional KES. 20Bn through a Tap Sale. The coupon rate is 14.399% p.a. Total amount raised from the bond was about KES. 72Bn.
The March Infrastructure Bond results were oversubscribed, which can be attributed to the tax-free nature of Infrastructure Bonds and the high yields currently being offered by government papers.
Additionally, investors have also increased their preference for higher risk-adjusted returns in order to gain a higher real return after being adjusted for inflation.
Particulars of the Bonds
| Name | Duration (years) | Coupon Rate | Maturity | Amortization |
| IFB1/2023/17 | 17 | 14.399% | 2040 | 2033 |
For the month of April, the Government is seeking to raise KES 50.0Bn for budgetary support through a duo issue reopening of three bonds. Bidding for the five-year bond closes on 10/04/2023 while the others close on 24/04/2023;
The three bonds include:
- FXD2/2018/10 – Has a time to maturity of 5.80 years and a coupon rate of 12.502%
- FXD1/2022/03 – Has a time to maturity of 2.10 years and a coupon rate of 11.766%
- FXD1/2019/15 – Has a time to maturity of 10.90 years and a coupon rate of 12.857%
TREASURY BILLS
Week 1 – 06/03/2023
In the first week of March 2023, T-bills were oversubscribed recording an increased overall subscription rate of 136.25% from 80.98% recorded in the previous week. Investors continued to have a preference for the shorter-term 91-day paper compared to the 364-day paper.
Week 2 – 13/03/2023
T-bills were oversubscribed for the second consecutive week recording an increased overall subscription rate of 148.47% from 136.25% recorded in the previous week. Investors continued to prefer the shorter-term 91-day paper.
Week 3 – 20/03/2023
T-bills were oversubscribed for the third week recording an increased overall subscription rate of 121.63% from 148.47% recorded in the previous week. Investors continued to prefer the shorter-term 91-day paper.
Week 4 – 27/03/2023
On the 4th Week of March 2023, T-bills were undersubscribed after three weeks of overperformance by recording a reduced overall subscription rate of 49.16% from 121.63% recorded in the previous week.
We attribute the increased investor interest in the 91-day paper to the perceived short-term risks in the market that make the 91-day paper more attractive than the 364-day paper and 182-day paper. In addition, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) increased interest rates in a bid to tame inflation from 8.75% to 9.50% which makes long-term fixed-income securities not attractive to investors as they avoid duration risk.
However, CBK’s announcement of easier access to opening treasury securities trading accounts for investors will likely lead to increased investor interest in investing in Government fixed securities.
EQUITIES
In the First Quarter of the year, the Equities market showcased a downward trajectory, with NASI, NSE 20 and NSE 25 declining by 11.5%, 3.2% and 5.4%, respectively. The poor performance of the Equities market can mainly be attributed to the losses recorded by large caps such as Safaricom, Bamburi, KCB Group and NCBA Group of 25.1%, 11.0%, 6.8% and 6.7% respectively.
However, it should be noted that there were gains recorded by banking stocks such as Standard Chartered Bank (SCBK), Co-operative Bank, ABSA Bank and NCBA Group of 19.1%, 6.9%, 4.1% and 2.5% respectively as the banks released their FY’2022 results during the month of March. Most of the listed banks recorded an increase in their earnings growth.
ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS
Investing in the global markets includes forex, commodities and derivatives, indices, futures, individual stocks from different companies and mutual funds.
Over the month, we witnessed the Kenyan shilling at its lowest against the dollar. We also experienced the US dollar weakening against a basket of other major currencies, amid the local U.S. bank crisis that saw the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Washington Mutual Bank and Signature Bank and continued talks with countries in Europe and Africa adopting to trade with their local currencies as opposed to using the dollar as the measure of exchange.
REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS
In the last month, the Government continued to push on the agenda on Affordable Housing and we witnessed Local Authorities Pension Trust (LAPTRUST) listing the first Income- Real Estate Investment Trust (I-REIT) to be issued by a pension fund at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). The LAPTRUST Imara I-REIT will list 346,231,413 units at Sh20 each, placing its valuation at Sh6.9 billion.
This brings the number of authorized REITS in Kenya to four, including LAPTRUST Imara I-REIT, namely; the ILAM Fahari I-REIT by Stanlib, Acorn Student Accommodation I-REIT, Acorn Student Accommodation D-REIT by Acorn Investments Management through their trading platform Vuka. Acorn announced the performance of their ASA D-REIT and I-REIT for the year ending 2022. Read the full report here.
FEATURED INVESTMENT SOLUTION:
Mansa X by Standard Investments Bank
Mansa-X is a Multi-Asset Strategy Fund with a long/short trading model that invests in financial instruments both local and global with the primary objective of realizing capital growth for its investors.
You can invest in both KES and USD options in Mansa-X serving both local and diaspora investors. It is a highly diversified fund, investing in a wide range of asset classes in the world’s major global stock exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), London Stock Exchange (LSE), Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FRA) and Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKG). The fund also creates exposure to futures and options for metals, commodities and interest-rate products.
It is licensed by Capital Markets Authority (CMA).
Features of the Fund:
- 0% Initial Fee
- 0% Redemption Fee
- Minimum Investment KES. 250,000 ($2,500)
- Minimum Top-up KES. 100,000 ($1,000)
- 6 Month Lock-In-Period
- 5% Annual Management Fee – prorated daily over 365 days
- 10% Performance Fee – applied on the surplus when a return above the 25% hurdle rate is attained on KES Fund.
- Preserves client’s assets
- Quarterly investments reports (statements)
The last quarter, the fund has reported an actual investment return of 3.99% which translates to an annualized return of 15.96% on the Kenya shilling offering. The USD offering reported an actual return of 3.38% for the last quarter translating to an annualized return of 13.52%.
The fund has consistently been reporting returns above the inflation rate for the last 3 years and can be taken as a fund to diversify your investments if you are looking into the medium investment horizon. To note, past performance is not indicative of future results.
Are you interested in investing in any of these funds? We can help you analyze each further, align with your personal financial plan, and kick off your investment journey.
To get started, contact us via https://vasiliafrica.com/wealth/#call, or call +254 741 808 463.
