Wealth-tech startup and fund manager Waanzilishi Capital Kenya Limited which trades as Ndovu has launched a money-market fund (MMF) following regulatory approval earlier in March.
The fund allows investments of as low as Sh500 and seeks to link investors with flexible, stable, and low-risk options offering competitive returns.
An MMF is a mutual fund that invests in highly liquid, near-term instruments. The funds are intended to offer investors high liquidity with a low risk level through options such as treasury bills and fixed deposits.
“We are fostering a culture of saving and investing in Kenya. With this fund, we’re empowering Kenyans to take control of their financial future by offering a platform to start investing, diversify their portfolios, and meet their long-term goals- all while earning competitive returns,” said Radhika Bhachu, CEO and co-founder of Ndovu Wealth Limited.
Ndovu joins a market of over 50 approved collective investment schemes comprising 224 funds where 31 of the CISs’ were active as of the end of June 2024.
The MMF has been the most popular class of collective investments, accounting for 67.4 percent of the Sh254 billion assets under management (AUM) in the first six months of the year, or Sh171.1 billion.
Other types of collective investment schemes include fixed-income funds which primarily invest in government securities, equity funds- primarily invested in listed stocks, balance funds which offer an equal split between money market and fixed-income funds and other funds which cover alternative investments and foreign currency-denominated funds.
Ndovu had previously been offering investors access to money market funds through a partnership with Zimele Asset Managers. Ndovu has recently begun offering investors an opportunity to own fractional shares in the world’s largest stocks including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Tesla, Nvidia, and Meta.
In August, Jubilee Asset Management, a subsidiary of Jubilee Holdings, launched a dollar-denominated MMF that requires an initial minimum investment of $1,000 (Sh128,98). The fund, dubbed Jubilee Money Market Fund (USD), will require a minimum top-up of $500 (Sh64,492.81) and marks a diversification from a shilling-denominated fund that requires an initial minimum investment of Sh5000 and top-ups of at least Sh1,000.
