Nairobi broker SIB kicks off currency, metal trading fund

Nairobi-based Standard Investment Bank (SIB) has launched a fund for investment in currencies, commodities and precious metals following licensing by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA).

The fund, dubbed Mansa-x, will also invest in indices such as S&P 500, Dow Jones, FTSE, Nikkei, German 30 and the NASDAQ.

The commodities to be traded are oil, natural gas, corn, cotton and coffee, among others —indicating that the approach includes global commodities rather than just those found in Kenya.

SIB executive director for global markets Nahashon Mungai said investors in the fund are required to put in a minimum amount of Sh250,000 for at least six months.

“I believe that these products, which can be traded in both long and short directions, offer substantial diversification and hedging solutions for investors,” said Mr Mungai.

“For a long time, the online trading of currencies has been mainly done by tech-savvy people. We found that this can be done by as many more people as are willing to participate as they don’t need to be tech-savvy themselves. We have invested in systems for doing that on their behalf.”

The trading of foreign exchange will be done online with spot currency pairs including euro-US dollar, the British pound against the US dollar, among others.

The fund is charging an initial fee of five per cent of the amount invested and an annual management fee of five per cent.

The management fee is waived in the first year.

If the fund makes a return above 25 per cent, then it charges a fee of 10 per cent of the extra return. So far, the fund has made a return exceeding 20 per cent.