New Year, Big Numbers: Nigeria's ₦6.74 Trillion Mutual Fund Market Opens 2026 With a 169% Equity Champion — January 2, 2026

Market Overview

The Nigerian mutual fund industry kicks off 2026 with a total market net asset value of ₦6.74 trillion across 202 reporting funds — a formidable base that underscores the sector's growing relevance in Nigeria's financial landscape. As the books close on 2025's full-year performance, investors are greeted with a market that rewarded risk-takers handsomely while still delivering solid returns across more conservative categories.

Equity funds dominated the year with a category average return of 30.46%, more than double the money market average of 16.95%. But the real headline is at the top: Halo Equity Fund posted a staggering 169.00% YTD return, a figure that dwarfs the rest of the field by a wide margin. Even the second-place finisher, Zrosk Magna Equity Fund at 74.70%, trails by nearly 95 percentage points — a gap that demands scrutiny as much as admiration.

Top Performers This Week

The 2025 year-end leaderboard is emphatically an equity story. Four of the top five funds by YTD performance are equity funds, with only Capital Express Balanced Fund (59.70%) breaking the equity stranglehold from the balanced category — itself an impressive outlier, considering the balanced funds category averaged just 14.27%.

Paramount Equity Fund (63.89%) and FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund (58.05%) round out the top five, suggesting that both active stock-picking and factor-based strategies found fertile ground in Nigeria's equity markets last year. The smart beta approach from FBNQuest, in particular, signals that systematic equity strategies are gaining traction alongside traditional active management.

Notably, New Gold ETF delivered 54.00% in the exchange-traded funds category — a reminder that global commodity exposure through locally listed instruments proved to be a powerful diversifier in 2025.

Category Spotlight

Money Market Funds remain the gravitational center of the industry, commanding ₦3.72 trillion in NAV — a dominant 55.1% of total market assets. The category's 16.95% average return reflects Nigeria's elevated interest rate environment, making cash-equivalent instruments unusually rewarding. RT Briscoe Savings & Investment Fund led at 24.31%, a remarkable premium over category peers.

Dollar Funds hold the second-largest pool at ₦1.76 trillion, though their modest 5.38% average return suggests investors are parking capital for currency protection rather than chasing yield. Futureview Dollar Fund outperformed at 19.17%, likely capturing favorable naira depreciation dynamics.

Ethical Funds and Shari'ah Compliant Funds present a study in contrasts: ethical funds averaged a paltry 1.21%, while Shari'ah-compliant funds averaged 7.09%, boosted by ARM Halal Balanced Fund's exceptional 51.96% return. This disparity warrants investor attention as ESG and faith-based investing continue to evolve in Nigeria.

Money Movement — Who's Growing

Stanbic IBTC Asset Management posted the week's largest NAV gain at ₦49.6 billion — a figure that towers over the next closest manager, Coronation Asset Management, at ₦7.6 billion. CardinalStone (₦7.3 billion), AXA Mansard (₦5.8 billion), and FSDH (₦5.4 billion) also saw significant inflows or appreciation.

On the other side, RMB Nigeria Asset Management saw the steepest decline, shedding ₦1.69 billion, followed by ValuAlliance (-₦869 million) and Fundco Capital (-₦391 million). These declines are worth monitoring to determine whether they reflect redemptions or mark-to-market adjustments.

What to Watch

Halo Equity Fund's sustainability: A 169% return invites the question — concentration risk or genuine alpha? Watch for portfolio disclosure and volatility signals in early Q1.
Money market fund flows: With ₦3.72 trillion in the category, any shift in monetary policy could trigger significant reallocation. The CBN's January posture will be critical.
Stanbic IBTC's ₦49.6 billion weekly gain: Is this institutional inflow, year-end rebalancing, or organic growth? The next two weeks of data will clarify whether this is a trend or an anomaly.
Ethical fund underperformance: At 1.21% average YTD, the category risks losing investor confidence. Watch for product restructuring or new fund launches.
Dollar fund positioning: With naira volatility ever-present, the ₦1.76 trillion dollar fund pool could shift quickly on any FX policy changes in 2026.