Centum now ventures into fund management

Centum Investment Company has ventured into fund management business after receiving a licence to open a new asset management subsidiary.

Centum Asset Managers Limited (CAM) will start off managing a portfolio of Sh6 billion, the firm said on Monday in a statement.

The fund management unit will handle equity, money market and fixed income portfolios targeting insurance companies, institutional and high-net-worth investors in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“In addition to the traditional quoted investments, we will offer investors access to alternative asset classes such as private equity and real estate, depending on client desires and with a view to giving them a high return and diversified benefits,” said Pius Muchiri, who until his appointment to head the new division was Centum’s investment manager in charge of quoted investments.

New assets

He added that CAM will also seek to introduce new assets to the capital markets, including bonds and other instruments that will be traded on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

Muchiri said CAM already has potential clients lined up, and that the company is in essence extending Centum’s existing business of managing owners’ capital. 

Centum Group chief executive James Mworia said the new corporate structure that the company is pursuing has been created in anticipation of growth of each portfolio taking into account opportunities in East and West Africa.

Mr Mworia said Centum had recorded increased demand for fund management, prompting the firm to create an asset management subsidiary.

Centum has a shareholder base of more than 37,000 institutional and individual investors.

The company is targeting to have Sh30 billion worth of assets under its management in the next two years.