KENYA – I&M Group has set up wealth management and advisory business targeting high-net-worth clients in a bid to diversify its non-funded income portfolio.
The tier-one lender says the services will be offered through I&M Capital, managing for the clients a range of products and services that include fixed income securities, portfolio restructuring and optimisation, investment loans for government securities, insurance products and equities.
It will also offer offshore Investments in collaboration with Bank One Mauritius, which like I&M Bank and I&M Capital is a subsidiary of I&M Group.
“The team at I&M Capital have a deep understanding of local and global markets and will recommend solutions most relevant to clients’ investment needs informed by fundamental research,” said, I&M Capital chairman Daniel Ndonye.
“They will provide insights that will help clients make the right investment decisions to protect and help their wealth grow.”
The new unit is however separate from advisory firm I&M Burbidge Capital, which offers advisory services to corporate clients.
Over the years, I&M Bank, which was listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) in 2013, has grown into a financial services group after acquiring Biashara Bank, Giro Bank and Youjays Insurance, providing financial advisory, real estate and bancassurance.
Wealthy Kenyans have increasingly turned to professional investment advisers to help them maximize returns in the financial markets, to which they have turned in the wake of a persistent slump in the real estate market.
“I&M Capital team have a deep understanding of local and global markets and will recommend solutions most relevant to clients’ investment needs informed by fundamental research”
Daniel Ndonye – Chairman, I&M Capital
In Rwanda, Kibo Capital Partners announced that it had sold its entire 6% stake in I&M Bank Rwanda (IMR), the country’s second-largest commercial bank marking the full exit of The Kibo Fund II LLC, which had Enexus Finance as its financial advisor.
The private equity management company has indicated that it has seen IMR consolidate its market position throughout its investment period.
The bank, she points out, has strengthened its value proposition in a full range of banking services, and has also successfully implemented a digitization strategy by investing in a new core banking system aimed at providing a continuation digital solutions to its customers.
“The fund is happy to have invested in the bank at the time of the IPO, a key moment in the bank’s expansion strategy, and has subsequently supported it in the growth of its clientele and s ‘is engaged in a process of digitization and innovation to better serve the Rwandan market, ” said Thierry Hugnin, Managing Partner of Kibo Capital Partners Ltd.
The Mauritius-based private equity firm acquired a stake in I&M Bank in April 2017 as part of the successful IPO of the Kigali-based bank.
Liked this article? Subscribe to DealStreet Africa News, our regular email newsletter with the latest news, deals and insights from Africa’s business, economy and more. SUBSCRIBE HERE