Absa Asset Management has won regulatory approval to launch two funds that let Kenyan investors put money into global markets, a move that pushes the firm beyond a unit trust business where money market products hold 98.7 percent of members.
The Capital Markets Authority approved the Absa Global Multi Asset Special Fund in both shilling and dollar denominations as additional sub funds under the existing Absa Unit Trust Scheme. The funds will invest across multiple asset classes internationally, giving investors exposure to markets beyond Kenya through a single regulated product.
What the approval adds
The two new funds expand Absa’s range from five to seven, adding global multi asset strategies alongside its money market, fixed income, balanced and equity offerings. Elizabeth Irungu, who heads Absa Asset Management, said the firm built the products in response to client demand for ways to diversify and preserve wealth while accessing professional fund management.
Absa plans to launch both funds in the coming weeks. Entry costs stay low: Kshs 1,000 for shilling denominated products and $100 for dollar denominated ones, keeping the funds accessible to retail investors rather than positioning them only for high net worth clients.
The CMA first cleared the funds on July 6, 2026, as part of a wider batch of approvals that also created the Cinemark and Karsis umbrella unit trust schemes and added special funds at Dry Associates and Madison Investment Managers. Absa confirmed the registration publicly on August 5.
A sector shifting toward specialised products
Special funds have become the fastest growing segment of Kenya’s collective investment scheme market. CMA data shows special fund assets reached Kshs 203.5 billion by March 2026, a record 23.9 percent of total collective investment scheme assets and a share that now exceeds traditional fixed income funds. Investors are moving past plain money market products toward funds built around currency diversification, private debt and multi asset strategies, and regulators have kept pace by approving a wave of new schemes through 2026.
Irungu pointed out that Kenyan equities remain competitive even as clients look abroad. The Absa Equity Fund gained 15 percent in the first half of 2026, she noted, a return that keeps local products relevant alongside the new global options.
Absa’s membership sits almost entirely in cash
The push into global funds addresses a concentration problem. Membership across Absa’s five existing funds grew 79.9 percent to 17,990 in 2025, up from 10,002 a year earlier, but that growth sits overwhelmingly in cash products. The Shilling Money Market Fund carried 16,681 members and the Dollar Money Market Fund another 1,080. Together the two money market funds accounted for 98.7 percent of Absa’s unit trust membership, leaving the fixed income, balanced and equity funds with a combined 229 members.
The flagship Shilling Money Market Fund nearly doubled in size during 2025. Net assets attributable to investors rose 95.8 percent to Kshs 26.13 billion, and investment income climbed 74.8 percent to Kshs 2.53 billion. Profit for the year grew 57.6 percent to Kshs 1.87 billion, though expenses rose faster still, up 153.9 percent to Kshs 657.07 million. Unit subscriptions more than doubled to Kshs 23.02 billion against redemptions of Kshs 11.55 billion, a signal that inflows are outpacing exits by a wide margin.
By June 2026, Absa reported fund sizes of Kshs 25.78 billion for the Shilling Money Market Fund, $24.62 million for the Dollar Money Market Fund and Kshs 2.30 billion for the Fixed Income Fund. The Equity and Balanced funds remained comparatively small, at Kshs 59.91 million and Kshs 57.92 million respectively, underscoring how far Absa still has to go to shift clients out of cash and into diversified strategies.
Why it matters
Launching global multi asset funds gives Absa a product built for that shift, but the real test will be whether the firm can move existing money market clients toward funds with longer horizons and broader market exposure. With special funds already outgrowing every other category in the industry, Absa is betting that Kenyan investors are ready to look past cash.
