Special Fund and Collective Investment Scheme Approvals
Capital Markets
Special funds are the fastest-growing corner of Kenya’s investment market, and every one of them, like every unit trust and every other collective investment scheme, exists only by the Capital Markets Authority’s approval. For the fund manager, the approval is a second regulatory exercise that begins where the licence ended, the scheme itself must be constituted, documented and approved before a single investor subscribes. We act for licensed managers and for promoters on the way to a licence, taking schemes from concept to approved launch.
What we do
We advise on the right scheme for the strategy, a conventional unit trust fund or a special fund where the mandate needs the wider investment freedom the 2023 regulations allow, and on the consequences of each choice for who may invest and how the product is offered. We constitute the scheme, the trust deed, the appointment of the trustee and custodian the law requires, and the incorporation documents where the structure needs them, and we prepare the approval application, the information memorandum or offering document, the investment policy, the fee structure and the disclosures, in the form the Authority’s reviewers expect. We manage the application through the Authority to approval, and after launch we advise on the continuing obligations, the reporting, the changes that need fresh approval, and the additional sub-funds a growing manager adds to an approved scheme.
What you bring
Your licence position, the investment strategy and target investors, and your intended trustee and custodian relationships if you have them; if you do not, we introduce you. Managers who involve us at strategy stage rather than documentation stage launch faster, because the structure is approved on the first application rather than the second.
Talk to us
To instruct us or ask a preliminary question, write to info@pmlaw.co.ke, call or WhatsApp +254 714 644 080, or use the contact page. We respond within one business day.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a special fund and a unit trust?
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A unit trust invests within the conventional constraints; a special fund is approved for a wider, more flexible mandate under the 2023 regulations, which is why the category has grown so quickly. The right choice depends on the strategy and the investors, and our three-part series on collective investment schemes, linked below, explains the landscape in full.
Do I need a fund manager licence before the scheme is approved?
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The scheme is operated by a licensed manager, so the licence and the approval are sequential parts of one journey. We run both, and for new entrants we plan them together so neither waits on the other longer than it must.
How long does CMA approval of a scheme take?
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It turns on the completeness of the constitutive documents and the offering material. A well-prepared application moves through the Authority in a defined review; a thin one cycles through requisitions. Preparation is the timeline.
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