SBG Securities enters pension fund management, pitches retirement savings as capital for growth

KAMPALA – SBG Securities, a subsidiary of Stanbic Uganda Holdings Limited (SUHL), has launched a pension fund management business, with executives saying pension savings should be channelled into infrastructure, housing and industry to support the government’s target of growing the economy tenfold by 2040.

The business was launched at the first Stanbic Uganda Pensions Conference in Kampala, which brought together regulators, policymakers, scheme trustees, fund administrators, employers and investment managers.

The move extends the group’s pension-related services, which already include banking, custody, trustee services and investment advisory, into licensed fund management.

Grace Semakula, the Chief Executive Officer of SBG Securities Uganda Limited, said the company was responding to demand from retirement schemes for professional fund management.

“Our objective is to deliver consistent value to retirement schemes through disciplined investment management, strong governance and sound risk management. Pension savings deserve professional stewardship that balances sustainable returns with long-term capital preservation,” she said.

Semakula said the business would also support efforts to increase retirement savings and extend pension coverage to workers in the informal sector.

SBG Securities, which started as a stockbroker, has in recent years added Uganda Shilling and US Dollar unit trusts to its products.

Mark Ocitti Ongom, the Chief Executive Officer of SUHL, described pension funds as patient capital that could finance infrastructure, housing and industrialisation.

“Retirement savings first and foremost provide dignity and financial security for workers after years of service. But when professionally managed and responsibly invested, they also become a powerful engine for national development,” he said.

Ongom said the new business would allow the group to work more closely with pension schemes, regulators and the government.

The Minister of State for Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations, Simon Mulongo, who gave the keynote address, said the government remained committed to expanding pension coverage, particularly among informal sector workers, through initiatives such as the National Long-Term Savings Scheme.

“The pensions sector is no longer only about securing people’s retirement. It has become an important pillar for mobilising domestic capital that can finance Uganda’s long-term development priorities. We must continue strengthening policy and regulatory frameworks that encourage greater participation while safeguarding contributors’ savings,” Mulongo said.

Paul Muganwa, Executive Director and Head of Corporate and Investment Banking at Stanbic Bank Uganda, said the tenfold growth target would require large pools of long-term capital.

“Pension funds provide one of the most reliable sources of that capital, and through strong partnerships between government, regulators and the private sector, we can channel these resources into sectors that generate sustainable economic growth while protecting the interests of pension contributors,” he said.

Muganwa said the group’s operations across corporate banking, investment banking, custody and capital markets would allow it to offer combined services to pension schemes and institutional investors.

The conference was held under the theme “The Role of the Pensions Sector in Accelerating the Tenfold GDP Growth Strategy”. It coincides with Stanbic’s 35th year of operation in Uganda as part of South Africa’s Standard Bank Group.