This was revealed at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) for unitholders, held at the Stanbic Heights, Airport in Accra.

The two funds managed by the firm, Stanlib Cash Trust (SCT) and Stanlib Income Fund Trust (SIFT), both performed way above their benchmarks for the year 2018.

While the Stanlib Cash Trust returned 16.1 per cent, that is 2.5 per cent above the benchmark of 13.6 per cent, the Stanlib Income Fund Trust yielded 17.5 per cent against a benchmark of 15.6 per cent.

Assets during the period grew by 180 per cent to GHC 147 million.

Speaking on what accounted for such a strong showing in a volatile market where other investment management firms are struggling, the Fund Manager for the SIFT, George David Allotey, said Stanlib is known by its consistency on the market and is also guided by three philosophies which sets them apart from the others.

"There are three things that guide us; security is the first one. We need to make sure that the investments are safe, that's our first hurdle. Once people know that when they come they'll get their money, certainly they'll keep bringing in more monies. The second is diversification and the third is achieving sustainable returns, that is the gradual growth of funds," he said.

Commenting on challenges facing the investment industry in Ghana and the seeming silence of the regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Allotey said contrary to public perception, the SEC has been proactive in dealing with some of the challenges that the industry is facing.

He said, "I don't think they've been silent, I have seen a couple of proactive steps on their platform. One is the publication of firms in good standing, which was published four months ago together with those that have been suspended as well. They've also been engaging the market in terms of the investment houses on what should be done, so maybe there are a lot of things going on but the public are unaware of them because they haven't been finalized".

"They are part of those who are pushing the Bank of Ghana to find out that there's liquidity in CBG and the other places so that the funds can be made available to the investment houses. I think there's a decent amount of activities being done on that side", he added.

STANLIB Ghana is a licensed Investment Advisor with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ghana and also registered with the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) managing pension assets, collective investment schemes, provident funds, retail and institutional funds.

STANLIB Ghana manages two collective investment schemes, the Stanlib Cash Trust, which is structured for short-term investment needs and the Stanlib Income Fund Trust structured for medium to long-term investment needs.