KENYA – Cytonn Asset Managers Limited (CAML), the regulated affiliate of Cytonn Investments, has today launched the first specialized and regulated Collective Investment Scheme in Kenya, focusing on financing mid to low income housing.

The fund known as the Cytonn High Yield Fund (CHYF) will target assets under management of Kshs 30 bn, which shall be used for the development of 6,000 mid to low-income houses.

Speaking at the launch, Cytonn CEO, Edwin H. Dande said, “We are constantly striving to provide creative solutions that will ensure the affordable housing agenda is attained and Cytonn High Yield Fund is one of those solutions.”

Dande said that the fund “allows another avenue for the private sector to bring regulated capital towards the development of low to mid-income housing.”

He further noted, “we believe the fund is in line with the government’s agenda of attaining affordable housing by 2020.

Driven by such factors we asked ourselves, ‘How can we bridge these challenges and provide affordable mixed-use developments?’ CHYF is our solution.”

Victor Odendo, Principal Officer at CAML, explained that “The Cytonn High Yield Fund is a specialized Collective Investment Scheme, which has a high allocation towards investment in real estate assets.”

According to Odendo, “the investment objective of CHYF is to obtain a high level of current income while protecting investors’ capital.”

Victor further explained that the fund’s objective will be to outperform the income yield available from commercial banks by investing in alternative asset classes such as real estate.

Dr. Edward Odundo, Chairman, East Africa Forum for Alternative Investments said “Against the backdrop of rapid urbanization putting pressure on housing delivery systems, many first-time home buyers will not be able to afford formal housing without proper housing finance solutions.”

“This puts the issue of housing finance at the forefront of the country’s development agenda and am glad that Cytonn is taking the necessary steps to provide a solution”.

CHYF is a product regulated by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) and targets to offer returns of up to 15%.

The minimum initial investment for the fund will be Ksh. 1,000,000, with an initial lock-in period of 3 months, after which investors can access all or part of their capital.