NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 18 – Old Mutual Investment Group (OMIG) is calling on Kenyans to diversify their investment portfolios as economy is set to rebound.
The investment firm expects economy to grow in the next 1-2 years as inflation drops, onset of rainy season and reduces prices of fuel as well as food.
“Despite inflation appearing to stabilize at 9%, it may remain elevated in the near term because oil prices are still high, and weather conditions remain unfavourable hence affecting food prices,” OMIG Kenya Chief Investment Officer Eric Karimi said.
“However, from a policy perspective a lot is happening to support farmers, and this may yield fruit, therefore the economy will bounce back not in the immediate term but gradually for over the next 12 – 18 months,” he added.
Findings from the outlook shows that spreading one’s risk by investing in a well-diversified investment portfolio made-up of both growth and income assets or securities, is key for better and stable returns.
“The current state of the financial markets has revealed a need to diversify one’s investment portfolio of traditional asset classes such as cash and near cash, stocks, and bonds to include other alternative assets or securities whose returns, and performance have a lower correlation with traditional investment markets,” OMIG Kenya Head of Alternative Investments Kevin Nyaga said.
“On this backdrop, investors are encouraged to look closer for opportunities in the Alternative Investments space. To date, we are seeing more demand in alternative investments like infrastructural themed private equity, venture capital and property sub-sectors such as affordable housing targeting low to mid income earners, and specialized housing such as college student accommodation, among others.”
