Nigeria’s mutual fund assets near N10 trillion as money market funds dominate

Nigeria’s collective investment scheme assets have risen to N9.885 trillion, approaching the N10 trillion mark, with money market funds accounting for N6.718 trillion, or 67.96% of the total net asset value (NAV).

This is according to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) weekly NAV report as of October 9, 2026, which shows that industry assets increased by N43.76 billion, or 0.44%, from N9.841 trillion in the preceding week.

Including N33.36 billion held in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which are reported separately, the combined value reached approximately N9.918 trillion.

Key highlight of Assets Value:

Overall, total fund NAV rose by N43.75 billion, or 0.44%, from N9.84 trillion to N9.88 trillion on October 9.

• Money Market Funds contributed the most to total NAV with N6.72 trillion.
• Dollar Funds: N1.75 trillion.
• Real Estate Trusts: N520.31 billion
• Equity-based Funds: N239.40 billion
• Bonds/Fixed-income funds: N230.92 billion.
• Balanced Funds: N199.08 billion.
• Shariah-compliant funds held N151.99 billion.
• Specialised Funds: N54.71 billion.
• Ethical Funds: N20.57 billion.

Money Market Funds hold N6.72 trillion:

Money market funds accounted for the largest share of Nigeria’s collective investment scheme assets and drove the latest weekly increase. Their NAV rose by N45.81 billion, or 0.69%, from N6.672 trillion to N6.718 trillion.

• The increase exceeded the industry’s overall net gain of N43.76 billion, reflecting declines across several other fund categories.
• Dollar funds held N1.750 trillion, representing 17.70% of total assets, after increasing by 0.22% from N1.746 trillion.
• Real estate investment trusts declined by 0.11% to N520.31 billion, while equity-based funds fell 1.59% to N239.40 billion.
• Bond and fixed-income funds declined 0.81% to N230.92 billion, while balanced funds increased 0.28% to N199.08 billion.
• Shariah-compliant funds fell 0.26% to N151.99 billion, specialised funds rose 0.64% to N54.71 billion, and ethical funds declined 0.68% to N20.57 billion.
• Four fund categories recorded gains during the week, while five declined.
• Money market and dollar funds together accounted for approximately N8.47 trillion, or 85.66% of total collective investment scheme assets.

By comparison, equity-based funds represented 2.42% of assets, while bond and fixed-income funds accounted for 2.34%, underscoring the industry’s concentration in money market and dollar-denominated products.

Mutual Fund Assets extend weekly gains:

Nigeria’s collective investment scheme industry has recorded sustained growth in recent weeks, with NAV increasing from N9.539 trillion on August 21 to N9.885 trillion on October 9.

The N345.63 billion increase represented growth of 3.62% across seven consecutive week-to-week gains, with the largest weekly increase of approximately N129.71 billion recorded in the week ending October 2.

Money market fund NAV increased from N6.366 trillion on August 14 to N6.718 trillion, a gain of N351.32 billion, or 5.52%.

• Dollar fund NAV declined by N37.98 billion, or 2.12%, from N1.788 trillion recorded on August 14.
• Balanced funds increased by 27.6%, rising from N156.06 billion to N199.08 billion.
• Nairametrics’ earlier tracking showed that industry NAV stood at N8.44 trillion in March and increased to N8.77 trillion in April.
• The March figures showed money market funds holding N5.45 trillion, representing 64.90% of industry assets.
• By April, money market funds had increased to N5.68 trillion, while dollar funds stood at N1.85 trillion.

The money market segment subsequently reached N6.27 trillion by July 31, representing a 4.96% increase from N5.97 trillion in June.

Stanbic leads Nigeria’s largest funds:

Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund remained Nigeria’s largest collective investment fund, with NAV of N3.126 trillion, according to the SEC fund-level rankings dated October 2.

The rankings also showed a strong concentration of the largest funds in money market products, with seven of the ten biggest funds belonging to that category.

• Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund ranked second with N791.50 billion in assets.
• First Asset Money Market Fund followed with N772.15 billion.
• Guaranty Trust Money Market Fund held N676.97 billion.
• ARM Money Market Fund recorded N462.05 billion in NAV.
• The fund-level sheet also listed 1,651,474 unitholder records, although this does not necessarily represent the number of unique investors because individuals may hold units in multiple funds.
• Importantly, changes in NAV should not be interpreted solely as new investment inflows.
• NAV reflects subscriptions, redemptions, investment income and valuation movements, meaning the N45.81 billion weekly increase in money market fund assets does not necessarily represent fresh subscriptions.
• Similarly, dollar fund assets are reported in naira, making their reported values sensitive to exchange-rate movements.
• The decline in equity fund NAV coincided with a fall in the NGX All-Share Index, although the data does not distinguish between market-related losses and investor redemptions.

Overall, the figures show an expanding collective investment industry that remains heavily concentrated in money market and dollar funds, while equity and bond funds together account for less than 5% of total assets.