The number of wealthy Kenyans investing outside the country has increased, with most of them putting their cash in foreign-backed mutual funds.
Paul Njoki, the head of Standard Chartered Bank’s wealth management in Kenya and East Africa says rich Kenyans now prefer investing abroad due to the risks in the local economy.
Njoki says investment in mutual funds has gained popularity among this group of Kenyans. A mutual fund is an investment vehicle created when many investors put their money together in a bid to invest in securities such as stocks, bonds, money market instruments and other assets. “While these funds are not risk-free, they offer another avenue for investment and diversification of assets,” said Mr Njoki in a recent interview.
“They offer many benefits such as taking advantage of emerging markets, commodities boom, or business cycle of different markets,” he added.
The trend represents a departure from the past when deep-pocketed Kenyans preferred investing locally in real estate, land and bank accounts in foreign capitals.
In 2016, 900 Kenyans transformed into dollar millionaires according to Knight Frank’s 2017 wealth report, pushing the number of Kenya’s super rich to 9,400 in 2016. This was an eight per cent increase from the 8,500 the previous year.
The new list of rich Kenyans includes 30 individuals whose net-worth is more than $10 million (Sh1 billion ) each, 10 ultra-high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) with over $30 million (Sh3 billion) each, and two top dollar millionaires with more than $100 million (Sh10 billion.)
They steal money from the…
They steal money from the treasury and call it theirs… shame on them and shame on us kenyans for letting it happen and continue to happen
Agreed fully. The press even…
Agreed fully. The press even gives props to the thieves who have stolen our money. Until they (so called tycoons or whatever) declare their wealth and how they acquired it no respect on my part. Meanwhile I would want to know how those at the bottom of the barrel are making ends meet and how we can help. This capitalistic pull up your socks attitude is not appropriate for Africans. Not with all the powerful greedy hyenas we have. Julius Nyerere may have had some insight on this.
I concur… then poor…
I concur… then poor Wanjiku continues ‘worshiping’ the thieves for money that is not supposed to be theirs
As a struggling young…
As a struggling young democracy, Kenya needs local support from her citizens. If these super rich Kenyans band together they can open up some local basic industries and fill local needs thereby helping provide jobs at home and make a pile of money for themselves-rather than investments abroad. Patriotism is badly needed for us to survive as a people.