The MMF surge

Your daily dose of financial news

Hello 👋 

It's Brian from The Kenyan Wall Street.

On our top stories today :

▶️ Money Market Funds (MMFs) are becoming a popular investment front for many Kenyans as its value grows.

▶️ Six new funds from different asset managers approved by CMA.

▶️ The Kenyan shilling slips into a 3-month low against the dollar as the greenback rips through other major currencies.

💰 Unit Trusts, Led by Money Market Funds, Cross KSh 300 Bn Mark

Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) in Kenya now manage more than KSh 300 billion. This steady growth, as recorded by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), increased by 25.4% between June and September this year. A closer look at the performance of these funds :

🔺 Fixed Income Fund - KSh 53.5 billion (32.6%)

🔺 Money Market Funds (MMFs) - KSh 196.8 billion (62%)

🔺 Equity Fund - KSh 2.3 billion

🔺 Balanced Fund - KSh 1.3 billion

The leading unit trust funds are CIC Unit Trust Scheme which manages assets worth over KSh 70 billion and Sanlam Unit Trust with more than KSh 46 billion. Read this article to understand how other major unit trusts performed according to CMA.

💰 Capital Markets Authority Approves Six New Funds

Following the growing popularity of unit trusts as investment portfolios, the regulator approved six new players in the market. These include :

🟢 Oak Multi-Asset Special USD Fund under the Faida Umbrella Fund (Faida Investment Bank)

🟢 DAL High Yield Special Fund under the Dry Associates Limited (DAL).

🟢 Britam USD Money Market Fund 

Others include : Orient Dollar Money Market Fund, CIC Global Special Fund, and VCG Offshore Opportunities Special Fund.

💱 Kenyan Shilling Weakens Slightly as Dollar Rally Continues

The Central Bank of Kenya has quoted the exchange rate at KSh 129.35 to the dollar, a three-month low. On Wednesday, the quoted exchange rate was at KSh 129.25. This is not very surprising though. Since last week Thursday, the dollar strengthened its position after Republican Party candidate Donald Trump won the US Elections. The greenback managed to outperform other major currencies including the Euro, the Yuan, and the South African Rand. The shilling remained stable because the CBK curbed volatility by buying forex. What does this mean for global markets and the country?

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Have a great evening 🙂