NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 14 – Britam Asset Managers has launched KidNest, an investment account targeting children and designed to encourage families to start saving and investing for their children early.
The account allows parents and guardians to start investing with Sh1,000, with additional contributions from Sh100. It is available for children from birth to 25 years.
Britam Group Managing Director and CEO Tom Gitogo said starting early gives children more time to build wealth through regular investing and compounding.
The launch comes as Kenya continues to face challenges around savings and financial literacy.
The 2024 FinAccess Household Survey showed that the proportion of adults who save fell from 74 percent in 2021 to 68.1 percent in 2024, while only 18.3 percent were considered financially healthy.
The survey also found that formal financial access had increased to 84.8 percent, although only 42.1 percent of Kenyans demonstrated high financial literacy.
Britam Asset Managers Head of Business Development Concepta Ayuma said the product was developed to move children from simply being consumers to becoming early investors.
“We wanted to change the mindset where our children are not looked at as spenders but looked at as early investors,” Ayuma said.
Unlike conventional children’s savings products, KidNest is designed to involve children in tracking their investments and setting financial goals as they grow.
Parents can make contributions through Britam’s digital platforms, including the My Britam App and *705#.
Britam Asset Managers CEO and Principal Officer Barack Obatsa said the product is built around the advantage children have through starting early.
“We want a movement where children start to invest when they are very young and early enough,” Obatsa said.
He said the aim is to make saving and investing a normal part of growing up rather than something people begin thinking about only after entering employment.
Obatsa also urged parents to avoid treating children’s investments as easily accessible emergency funds, saying long-term investments could eventually help finance education, business ventures or other major needs.
Financial literacy advocate Shelmah Wanjiku Ndung’u said parents have an important role in teaching children how to manage money.
She encouraged parents to teach children the difference between needs and wants and to develop saving habits from an early age.
“Everybody talks about money, everybody wants money, and everybody wants to use money. But we’ve never asked ourselves how to manage money,” Ndung’u said.
Britam said KidNest is part of its efforts to expand access to professionally managed investment products, with the company managing more than Sh250 billion in assets.
The company said the account is also intended to help children understand saving, investing and delayed gratification as they grow into adulthood.
