Standard Investment Bank(SIB)’s multi-asset strategy fund Mansa-X generated a return of 18.01 percent on its Kenya shilling fund from 15.59 percent in 2022 as global stock markets rebounded on the easing of inflation and interest rate pressures in the US.
The improved returns bring the fund’s average annual performance since its inception in 2019 to 17.36 percent, according to audited financial statements (2023).
Investment through the Mansa-X fund is available both in the local currency (Ksh) and the US dollar.
The US dollar fund generated returns of 12.1 percent to investors and closed the year with assets under management of $ 20.6 million generating returns.
“A number of forecasts predicted that the US economy would enter a recession as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to fight high inflation,” said SIB’s Executive Director-in-charge of Global Markets Nahashon Mungai.
“But the economy remained resilient, inflation eased, and the Fed declined to lift rates later in the year. US stocks rose in 2023, despite some setbacks along the way. Many economists who called for a recession have since walked back their predictions.
After raising rates three times in the first half of the year, the US Federal Reserve made a single additional increase in the second half of 2023 as US inflation retreated from June 2022’s four-decade high of 9.1 percent, with the 12-month rise in consumer prices falling to 3.1 percent in November, a lower level than many had expected.
