Octagon Umbrella Retirement Benefits Scheme has grown its fund value to Sh3.2 billion after its investment portfolio delivered a 19.1 percent return in 2025, outperforming the entire umbrella fund market average of 12.37 per cent.
Although Octagon’s remains a largely pooled retirement administration and investment management, its growth has been accompanied by rising membership, with more than 200 participating employers as at March 2026.
Its fund value increased from Sh2.9 billion in 2025 to Sh3.2 billion in March 2026, while membership had a 22 percent rise.
The scheme’s “balanced fund” returned 14.8 percent, while the “Conservative Fund” delivered 11.6 percent, with all three investment options recording positive returns during the year.
These are statistics of growth – and experts say they do reflect the significance of professionally managed retirement plans that offer members access to authoritative information and investment guide to ensure members are able to make solid decisions.
Michael Komen, Head of Retail at Octagon Africa says that the thought process that many in the population do not understand is how retirement solutions work.
“Our focus is to ensure that the growth of the Scheme translates into long-term value and greater financial security for members,” said Komen.
So, what do we learn from Octagon’s investment performance? It comes against a stronger market backdrop. Kenyan equities generated a 104 percent return over the two years to June 2026, ranking Kenya among the top-performing global equity markets over the period.
Strong corporate earnings and sustained domestic investor participation have supported the market, while valuations remain attractive relative to global and emerging-market peers.
According to the market outlook by Sanlam Allianz Investments Limited, Kenyan equities are expected to remain supported by strong company fundamentals, improving earnings and increased corporate activity. It also recommends maintaining offshore exposure to global equities to strengthen diversification, while cautioning that geopolitical risks could cause short-term volatility.
Latest industry brief from the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) for June 2026, shows that total pension assets under management in Kenya grew by 12.66 percent over the six months between December 2025 and June 2026, expanding from Sh2,811 billion to Sh3,167 billion.
Over the full one-year period from June 2025, total assets increased by 25.13 percent (or Sh636 billion).
The RBA has attributed part of the shift to smaller standalone corporate schemes moving towards umbrella arrangements, which can help employers reduce administrative demands and overhead costs while benefiting from pooled services and investment management.
Did you know?
While Octagon’s Conservative Fund is designed for members seeking greater stability and invests in guaranteed funds, fixed-income securities and Treasury bills, the Balanced Fund combines equities, bonds, cash equivalents and guaranteed funds.
The company’s Aggressive Fund has greater exposure to equities, real estate investment trusts and private equity. A customer can settle on one or more retirement vehicle based on their risk appetite and investment horizon.
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