Assets under RBA direction hits Sh1.55tr
By Jacktone Lawi, April 12, 2022The retirement benefits assets growth in Kenya recorded sluggish growth with assets under management increasing from Sh1.48 trillion in June 2021 to Sh1.55 trillion in December 2021.
Even it emerged that allocations by National Social Securities Fund (NSSF) significantly changed fortunes for some local fund managers in the sector.
According to the retirement benefits industry report for December 2021 released by the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA), the focus now is on uncertainties from Covid-19, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the political environment which are raising concerns that investments may be pushed into alternative asset classes.
“Fund managers and approved issuers held a majority of the assets amounting to Sh1.4 trillion. The assets under management included Sh240.36 billion of NSSF funds, which were managed by six external fund managers.
The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) internally managed a total of Sh49.94 billion of investments, while the trustees of the various schemes directly managed Sh55.85 billion of property investments,” says the RBA report.
Increased investments
The report further estimates that total investments held by National Social Security Fund (NSSF) increased by Sh10.63 billion to Sh290.30 billion in December 2021 up from Sh279.67 billion in June 2021.
A decision by NSSF to re-allocate funds changed the fortune for some providers after it re-allocated its portfolio to Sanlam in place of British-American Asset Managers Limited (BAAM) and further picked CIC Assets Management Ltd tweaking the pecking order for funds under management (FUM).
During that period Coop Trust Investment Services was also given Sh 46.88 billion to manage while Sanlam got Sh46 billion, while BAAM lost Sh 82.286 billion. This made the latter fall out of Kenya’s top five fund managers.
The move by NSSF also pushed Sanlam to the top of industry rankings with Sh288.8 billion in funds under management by the close of 2021. GenAfrica was second with Sh270 billion followed by Old Mutual Asset Managers (OMAM) handling Sh199.5 billion, then Co-op Trust managing Sh 182.4 Billion.
ICEA Lion Asset Management closed the top five list with Sh 79.5 billion in funds under management.
The new rankings place Co-op Trust Investment Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Co-operative Bank of Kenya, as the largest locally-owned fund management firm in Kenya.
Internally managed fund
The fund’s internally managed assets hit Sh49.94 billion, the report adds, with the portfolio externally managed by fund managers increasing by Sh50.1 billion to Sh240.36 billion by the close of 2021.
Externally managed funds increased over the period by Sh50.1 billion, up from Sh190.26 billion in June 2021 to Sh240.36 billion in December 2021.
Among the lucrative asset classes in the period under review included government securities that topped the list followed by quoted equities, immovable property and guaranteed funds.
For the period ending December 2021 a total of 17 fund managers and 17 approved issuers, submitted 1,172 scheme reports with a total fund value of Sh1.44 trillion. Representing a 9.27 percent increase in the total assets under management, up from Kshs.1,319.31 billion in June 2021