Kenya keeps public registers of the firms allowed to take investment money. They are free, searchable and almost nobody looks at them. Two minutes with one is the cheapest due diligence available.

Where to look, by what you are buying

A unit trust or money market fund — the Capital Markets Authority licenses collective investment schemes and publishes the register of licensees. When we read it on 1 November 2026 it listed 70 licensed schemes. The CMA's own quarterly reporting counts the funds inside those schemes separately, which is why you will see a larger number quoted: one licensed scheme can run several funds.

Shares, and the broker who buys them for you — stockbrokers and investment banks are CMA-licensed too, and the exchange publishes its member firms.

A sacco that takes deposits — the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority. Deposit-taking saccos are licensed, supervised and required to publish audited accounts.

Government paper — there is nothing to check. You are lending to the Treasury through the Central Bank. The thing to verify is the platform you are using to do it, not the bond.

What a licence tells you

Exactly two things.

That the firm is who it says it is, and has met a capital requirement, a fit-and-proper test on its directors, and an obligation to report. That is not nothing. It is the difference between a regulated fund and a man with a WhatsApp group.

That somebody can be complained to. A licensed firm has a regulator with the power to investigate, fine and withdraw the licence. An unlicensed one has no such thing, and nor do you.

What it does not tell you

It is not a guarantee of returns, and no licence has ever stopped a fund having a bad year.

It is not a promise the money is safe. Regulation sets rules about custody, segregation and reporting. It does not insure you against the fund's investments going wrong — that risk is yours and is the reason the fund pays more than a bank.

It is not current unless you checked today. Licences are granted, lapse and are withdrawn. A screenshot from last year proves nothing about this year.

What should actually stop you

  • A fixed, guaranteed return on an investment product. Money market fund rates move daily because what they hold moves daily. A guaranteed 20% is a promise nobody holding real assets can make.
  • The name is not on any register, and the explanation involves a pending application or an offshore parent.
  • Pressure to decide now, a closing window, or a better rate if you bring friends.
  • Payment to a personal number or a personal account rather than to the licensed entity's own account.
  • You cannot get a straight answer on how to withdraw — how long it takes, what it costs, what the notice is.
  • No statements. A regulated fund sends them. If your record of what you own is a WhatsApp message, you do not have a record.

One thing to be clear about with Ipahco

Ipahco shows and compares. It does not take your money, hold it, or move it. When you decide to buy something, you go to the provider or your broker and transact with them directly — which also means your money is never sitting with us, and the comparison here has nothing riding on which row you pick.

Where a provider appears on the comparison and is not on the CMA register of schemes, that is flagged on the row rather than quietly left off, because the absence is information too.