Kuza Asset Management Kuza Shariah Momentum Special Fund

Kuza Asset Management is a Nairobi fund manager licensed by both the CMA and the RBA, running money market, fixed income and momentum funds plus retirement products. In September 2023 it launched the Kuza Shariah Momentum Special Fund, a Shariah-adherent variant of its conventional Momentum strategy, with a mandate covering halal businesses and securities across Kenyan and offshore equities, IPOs, REITs and sukuk.

The design is sensible: KES 100,000 minimum, KES 50,000 top-ups, a flat 2% p.a. management fee with no performance fee, and a 6-month lock-in, benchmarked to an absolute 12% return. That prices it well under SIB's Mansa-X Shariah (5% p.a. plus performance fee), the only other halal growth mandate in the country.

Execution is where the story breaks down. Kuza's own published fund facts (which it deserves credit for publishing) show AUM of KES 2.46 million as of 30 September 2025, two years after inception, with a profit rate of 8.79% against the 12% absolute benchmark. At that size the fund cannot meaningfully hold a diversified book of equities, REITs and sukuk; it is a strategy waiting for capital. No Shariah board, advisor or screening methodology is published on kuzaasset.com, kuza.africa or the products PDF, so compliance is self-declared, as with most of the Kenyan shelf.

The rational read: Kuza Shariah Momentum is worth tracking, not yet worth anchoring a portfolio to. If AUM grows to a level where the mandate is implementable and Kuza names a Shariah advisor, it becomes the value option in Kenyan halal growth investing.