Collective Investment Funds
Collective investment schemes (unit trusts) let an investor own a professionally-managed, diversified basket priced at a daily net asset value (NAV). Tanzania’s iTrust family spans the risk ladder — from a money-market fund to a growth fund. The headline returns are real; the important work is understanding what each fund actually holds.
The risk ladder, in one chart
Each fund prices daily at NAV per unit. Rebased to 100 at the start of the window, the spread is the risk ladder: iGrowth (equities + bonds) moves most, while iIncome and iCash grind steadily upward.
iCash
A money-market fund — short-dated, high-quality instruments for liquidity and capital preservation. ~5% return; the lowest-risk rung. Use: cash management and dry powder.
iIncome
A fixed-income fund — government and corporate debt for a steady yield (~5.7%) with monthly payouts. Moderate risk. Use: income and a lower-volatility complement to equities.
iGrowth
A balanced/growth fund — the standout performer, +103.9% since its Dec-2024 launch (NAV ~138 at end-2025; ~TZS 90bn AUM). Higher risk — and the composition deserves a close look (below).
iGrowth is presented as a diversified balanced fund. Before sizing it that way, it is worth understanding what actually drives its returns. A careful reading of public disclosures suggests the fund’s performance — and much of its risk — is concentrated in a single equity position rather than spread across a broad basket. The exposure an investor takes on is more specific than the “balanced fund” label implies.
The implication: iGrowth is best understood as a concentrated position with stabilisers, not a broadly diversified vehicle — not a criticism of its strong returns, but a statement about the risk actually being taken. Size it for the exposure it carries, and check each fact sheet for the current composition. Our full quantified look-through — the exact holding, the weight, and the method behind both — is reserved for subscribers, in the brief below.
Units price once daily at NAV. iTrust switches between iIncome and iGrowth carry no exit fee; a 1% exit fee applies to payouts or moves to iCash. Processing takes ~3 working days, so a round-trip costs roughly 0.3–0.5% plus foregone carry in transit — cheap, but not free, and once-daily pricing matters for a fund whose largest holding gaps on news.
The backdrop genuinely favours bank equities: system credit is compounding ~23.6% year-on-year against ~6% GDP growth, non-performing loans near 2.9%, and positive real policy rates — with no inflation emergency forcing the Bank of Tanzania to tighten. The sector thesis is sound; the question for an iGrowth investor is concentration, not direction.
Choosing among them: iCash for liquidity, iIncome for yield and lower volatility, iGrowth for equity upside — sized for the concentration it actually carries. A blend across the three is how the risk ladder is meant to be used.
UTT AMIS — the market’s largest fund family
Beyond iTrust, the state-linked UTT AMIS runs six collective investment schemes. Their combined size dwarfs the rest of the market — and the shape of that money is telling: the great bulk sits in the money-market and bond funds, a clear read on what Tanzanian savers actually want first — liquidity and income.
Which growth vehicle won the fortnight?
Four equity-tilted vehicles — two unit trusts and two ETFs — rebased to 100 on the same day. Same market, very different outcomes: the funds that leaned hardest into Tanzanian bank equities moved most, in both directions. Concentration is the variable.