Equity Group Holdings has obtained regulatory approval to launch an asset management business, the lender’s Group Managing Director Dr James Mwangi said at the bank’s half year investor briefing, adding a new business line to a group that already spans banking, insurance and technology across six African markets.
Mwangi confirmed the licence had been secured and that the business is now in its setup phase, responding to a shareholder question on the status of the project.
“The market wants high earning assets as opposed to savings,” Mwangi said, describing a shift among the bank’s customer base away from traditional deposit accounts.
Why Equity Is Making This Move
He said the new business would draw on three existing strengths: the group’s brand, its distribution network, and its technology infrastructure.
“We think that will be a formidable business,” Mwangi said, citing Equity’s ability to distribute financial products manufactured locally and globally to a customer base of more than 24 million people.
The move follows the group’s earlier expansion into insurance, which turned profitable in each subsidiary within six months of launch and is now growing faster than the banking business, according to figures presented at the briefing.
What Is Already Happening in Kenya’s Asset Management Industry
Equity is entering a Kenyan asset management sector that has seen a wave of new entrants. The Capital Markets Authority issued licences through 2025 to EDC Asset Management, ADAR Asset Management and Everstrong Asset Management, each targeting fund management, private equity, real estate and infrastructure investment in Kenya and the wider East African region.
Bank owned unit trusts have shown rapid growth over the same period. Stanbic Bank’s Kenyan unit reported assets under management of 4.03 billion shillings at the end of March 2025, up 63.3 percent from December, with its customer base doubling to two million over the quarter, driven by a shilling denominated money market fund and a dollar denominated fixed income fund launched in September 2024.
The sector is also consolidating. Standard Bank’s Kenyan unit, Stanbic, has been in talks to acquire NCBA Group in a deal that would create Kenya’s third largest bank by assets, behind KCB Group and Equity Group, with a combined asset base of roughly 1.1 trillion shillings.
KCB held the largest asset base among listed Kenyan banks as of the third quarter of 2025 at 2.04 trillion shillings, ahead of Equity at 1.82 trillion shillings, Co-operative Bank at 815 billion shillings and NCBA at 665 billion shillings.
New capital markets regulations issued in 2025 introduced an approval in principle stage for fund managers and expanded permitted activities for investment banks, including market making. Existing licence holders have until December 2026 to comply with the updated framework, according to the Capital Markets Authority.
A Regional Play, Not Just a Kenyan One
Equity executives said the asset management launch is intended as a regional initiative rather than a Kenya only product. The group’s chief economic adviser told investors that Uganda is expected to begin major oil exports within months, a development he said could push growth toward 10 percent next year, while Tanzania is opening its local debt market to foreign investors and considering a debut Eurobond. Rwanda’s economy grew close to 10 percent in two consecutive quarters on construction activity, and the Democratic Republic of Congo has benefited from copper prices near 14,000 dollars a tonne.
Equity’s head of corporate and investment banking said the group has spent recent months strengthening collaboration between its banking, insurance and investment banking divisions, including ecosystem financing structures that channel capital from large corporate clients to retail customers across its six markets of operation.
Mwangi said the asset management launch reflects a broader shift in the group’s strategy from financial inclusion toward what he termed economic inclusion, helping depositors move beyond savings accounts toward products aimed at building long term wealth.
