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Market Commentary
Key Features
Fund Manager | CIC Asset Management Ltd |
Launch Date | May - 18 |
Risk Profile | Low - Moderate |
Trustee | Kenya Commercial Bank |
Custodian | Co-op Custodial Services |
Auditors | Kirenge & Associates |
Fund Objective
The fund provides a solution to organizations that find setting up a Retirement Fund and continuously comply-ing with the complex legal and statutory demands a challenge in both monetary and human resource cost.
SMEs and start-up organizations.
Fund Outlook
Global risks continue negatively affecting our stock market, and coupled with the interest rate hikes in de-veloped economies, foreign exits have sustained. The low prices in the market continue to provide attrac-tive price points into stocks with strong fundamentals and perpetual dividend payout thus locking in good yields.The government continues relying on the domestic debt market to meets is deficit owing to expensive external debt financing. Rates on government securities are hence expected to continue increasing in the near term.The fund will continue being affected by the downturn in the stock market but the bond performance will support stable performance.The fund will continue being affected by the downturn in the stock market but the bond performance will support stable performance.
Asset Allocation
GDP
The CBK upwardly revised the 2023 real GDP growth estimate by 10 basis points to 5.6% while in 2024, growth is estimated to touch 5.7% . Leading indicators point to continued economic growth in the first quarter of 2024, reflecting robust activity in the agriculture and service sectors.
Inflation
– The average y/y inflation for 1Q24 stood at 6.3%, the slower growth in the general price levels was largely due to the deceleration in both food & fuel inflation which led to a slow down in the food and transport indices.
Equities
The bourse experienced an upturn in the month of February, with the NSE 10, NSE 20,NSE 25 and NASI gaining by 3.4%,1.8%, 2.7% and 0.3% respectively. The performance was largely attributed to gains from large cap banking stocks-(ABSA, Equity, I&M and CO-OP). Turnover during the month was at KES 4.6Bn – 71.5% change month on month. The market participation experi-enced lower foreign which averaged 52.5% during the month.
Exchange Rates
Interest Rates
– In April, the Monetary Policy Committee decided to maintain the policy rate at 13% citing that the current monetary stance is sufficient to reduce inflation. The short term papers continued to inch upwards with the 91, 182 and 365 day papers closing at 16.73%, 16.89% and 16.98% respectively. Investors’ appetite remains skewed towards shorter term maturities.
Fund Performance
Statutory Disclaimer: The value of units may go down as well as up and past performance is not necessarily a guide to the future. There are no guarantee on the client’s capital as the performance of units in the fund is determined by change in the value of underlying investments hence value of your unit trust investment