Key Takeaways
- • The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) of Kenya has approved multiple new Collective Investment Schemes (CIS), including unit trusts, special funds, and an alternative investment fund, marking a strategic regulatory shift toward actively managed multi-asset and alternative investment vehicles.
- • Capital A Investment Bank Limited received authorization to launch two event-driven sub-funds under its Unit Trust: the Capital A Multi Asset Strategy Special Fund (KES) and Capital A Multi Asset Strategy Special Fund (USD), targeting institutional and risk-tolerant retail investors.
- • Faida Investment Bank Limited secured approval for the KETSA Alternative Investment Fund, established under the 2023 Alternative Investment Funds Regulations, designed to channel institutional capital into private debt, equities, fixed income, and money market instruments with a focus on structured liquidity within the SACCO ecosystem.
- • EDC Asset Management (Kenya) Limited launched the EDC Kenya Unit Trust Funds, an umbrella scheme comprising five distinct sub-funds spanning money market, fixed income, dollar income, balanced, and equity strategies to serve investors across the risk-return spectrum.
- • These approvals represent the CMA's commitment to expanding regulated wealth-management options and driving market innovation, broadening investment access beyond traditional money market products to more sophisticated institutional-grade alternatives.
Summary
The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) of Kenya has approved a comprehensive suite of new Collective Investment Schemes (CIS), demonstrating a regulatory pivot toward sophisticated, actively managed investment vehicles. The approvals encompass unit trust schemes, special funds, and alternative investment funds—collectively designed to expand institutional and retail investor access to diversified, regulated wealth-management products beyond the historically conservative money market instruments that have dominated Kenya's collective investment landscape.
Among the key approvals, Capital A Investment Bank Limited has been authorized to establish two actively managed, event-driven sub-funds under its existing Unit Trust structure. These offerings—the Capital A Multi Asset Strategy Special Fund (KES) and the Capital A Multi Asset Strategy Special Fund (USD)—are explicitly targeted at institutional investors and higher-risk-tolerance retail participants seeking exposure to multi-asset, event-driven strategies with both local currency and hard currency options.
The regulatory action also includes approval of the KETSA Alternative Investment Fund managed by Faida Investment Bank Limited. Structured under the CMA's 2023 Alternative Investment Funds Regulations, KETSA is positioned as a trust-based vehicle designed to mobilize institutional capital across private debt, equities, fixed income, and money market instruments. Notably, the fund incorporates a specialized focus on providing structured liquidity solutions within Kenya's SACCO (Savings and Credit Cooperative Organization) ecosystem, addressing a significant gap in the alternative finance market.
EDC Asset Management (Kenya) Limited launched an umbrella unit trust structure—the EDC Kenya Unit Trust Funds—comprised of five distinct sub-funds: the EDC Kenya Money Market Fund, EDC Kenya Fixed Income Fund, EDC Kenya Dollar Income Fund, EDC Kenya Balanced Fund, and EDC Kenya Equity Fund. This multi-strategy approach allows the asset manager to serve a broad investor base, from conservative capital preservation mandates to aggressive growth-oriented allocations.
The CMA has characterized these approvals as instrumental to driving market innovation and widening access to regulated investment vehicles across diverse demographic and institutional segments. The shift from predominantly passive, money-market-focused collective investment schemes toward actively managed multi-asset and alternative strategies reflects evolving institutional demand for sophisticated portfolio diversification and enhanced yield opportunities in Kenya's capital markets.
Among the key approvals, Capital A Investment Bank Limited has been authorized to establish two actively managed, event-driven sub-funds under its existing Unit Trust structure. These offerings—the Capital A Multi Asset Strategy Special Fund (KES) and the Capital A Multi Asset Strategy Special Fund (USD)—are explicitly targeted at institutional investors and higher-risk-tolerance retail participants seeking exposure to multi-asset, event-driven strategies with both local currency and hard currency options.
The regulatory action also includes approval of the KETSA Alternative Investment Fund managed by Faida Investment Bank Limited. Structured under the CMA's 2023 Alternative Investment Funds Regulations, KETSA is positioned as a trust-based vehicle designed to mobilize institutional capital across private debt, equities, fixed income, and money market instruments. Notably, the fund incorporates a specialized focus on providing structured liquidity solutions within Kenya's SACCO (Savings and Credit Cooperative Organization) ecosystem, addressing a significant gap in the alternative finance market.
EDC Asset Management (Kenya) Limited launched an umbrella unit trust structure—the EDC Kenya Unit Trust Funds—comprised of five distinct sub-funds: the EDC Kenya Money Market Fund, EDC Kenya Fixed Income Fund, EDC Kenya Dollar Income Fund, EDC Kenya Balanced Fund, and EDC Kenya Equity Fund. This multi-strategy approach allows the asset manager to serve a broad investor base, from conservative capital preservation mandates to aggressive growth-oriented allocations.
The CMA has characterized these approvals as instrumental to driving market innovation and widening access to regulated investment vehicles across diverse demographic and institutional segments. The shift from predominantly passive, money-market-focused collective investment schemes toward actively managed multi-asset and alternative strategies reflects evolving institutional demand for sophisticated portfolio diversification and enhanced yield opportunities in Kenya's capital markets.
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