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Verified 13 September 2026

I&M investments, custody and insurance

By Arnold Ochieng · I&M Bank Kenya hub · paybillke is an independent guide and is not affiliated with I&M Bank Kenya.

I&M covers the wealth side through I&M Capital Wealth Management, I&M Burbidge Capital and custodial services, and the protection side through bancassurance and insurance premium financing.

What custody actually means

Custodial services hold and administer securities on your behalf: safekeeping, settling trades, collecting dividends and coupons, and reporting. If you hold Treasury bills and bonds or listed shares in any volume, a custodian is the infrastructure that stops administration becoming your second job. For most retail investors with a CDS account and a handful of holdings, it is more than you need.

Bancassurance, and the question to ask

Bancassurance means the bank arranges cover underwritten by an insurer, rather than carrying the risk itself. So ask who underwrites the policy before you buy, and look at that insurer's record for paying claims. The convenience of buying alongside your banking is real. It is not a reason to skip comparing the price against buying direct.

Insurance premium financing

IPF lets you spread an annual insurance premium over monthly instalments instead of paying it in one go. Useful for cash flow, particularly on motor and business cover.

It is a loan, though, and it is priced like one. Ask for the total repayable against the lump-sum premium, and compare the two numbers directly. Sometimes the convenience is worth a few thousand shillings; sometimes the financing costs more than the discount you would get for paying annually.

Before putting money into any investment product

  1. What the management fee is, as an annual percentage, and what else is charged on top.
  2. What the minimum investment and the minimum holding period are.
  3. How quickly you can get the money out, and what it costs to exit early.
  4. Whether the return quoted is historic or projected, because those are very different claims.
  5. Who regulates the product, and who you complain to if something goes wrong.

A note on what we do not do here

We are not licensed financial advisers and nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy any product. What we can do is tell you which questions separate a good deal from a bad one. For where different Kenyan options sit against each other on risk and return, our investment comparison and money market fund rates are a starting point rather than an answer.

About this guide

Independent guide. paybillke is not I&M Bank and has no commercial relationship with it. Paybill, USSD and charge details were checked against I&M's own site and live tariff on 13 September 2026. Bank tariffs change, so confirm anything you are about to act on with I&M on +254 20 322 1000 or on the I&M tariff page.

Frequently asked

What investment services does I&M offer?

I&M Capital Wealth Management, I&M Burbidge Capital and custodial services for holding and administering securities.

What is bancassurance?

The bank arranges cover that an insurer underwrites. Ask who the underwriter is before buying.

What is insurance premium financing?

A loan that spreads an annual premium into instalments. Compare the total repayable against paying the premium in one go.

Do I need a custodian?

Only if you hold securities in volume. For a handful of holdings in a CDS account it is usually more than you need.