Excellence Begins at Forty: ICEA LION's 40 Years of Prosperity With You in Mind

ICEA LION Asset Management's 40th anniversary in Nairobi was a reminder that age is not the same as maturity. Group CEO Philip Lopokoiyit used his remarks to set a higher bar for African financial institutions: turning forty should mean deeper confidence, clearer self knowledge and stronger stability for both the company and its customers.

Philip began by introducing the CEOs of ICEA LION Group's eight businesses across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Together, the life, general, asset management and trust entities are designed to serve as one platform that walks with clients through their entire financial journey. Their purpose, he said, is to offer insurance and trust services that provide solutions from the first payslip, through family and business growth, into retirement and legacy planning.

That structure allows a client to stay within one trusted group as their needs change rather than starting over with new providers at every life event. For Philip, this joined up model is one way a forty year old institution shows maturity in practice.

He then turned to what forty years should mean inside the organisation. Drawing on the familiar saying that life begins at forty, he noted that by that age a person usually knows themselves better, is more stable and makes wiser decisions.

For ICEA LION, reaching forty must show up in more considered choices, stronger systems and a deeper sense of duty to customers who have trusted the brand over time. Survival on its own is not enough; the four decades need to be visible in how the group stands with clients when things are difficult, not only when markets are calm.

He framed this new phase as a season of transformation and responsibility.

That line shifted the anniversary from a backward looking celebration to a forward looking commitment. Philip closed by introducing keynote guest Dr James Boyd McFie, whose long service in academia, corporate boards and capital markets underlined the evening's central idea: the institutions that matter most are those that endure, adapt and keep serving across generations.

For customers, staff and partners, Philip's message is straightforward. ICEA LION's next chapter is about using the breadth of its eight businesses and the depth of its forty years to offer steadier support and more joined up solutions, so that everyone who entrusts their future to the group feels they are walking their financial journey with a mature, reliable partner at their side.

Excellence in Kenya is not an abstract slogan. It shows up in world records, in classrooms and in boardrooms. That was the heart of James Boyd's keynote at ICEA LION Asset Management's anniversary celebration. He argued that the same discipline that produces world beating Kenyan runners can and must shape how institutions manage money, build people and serve the country.

Why Excellence Matters Now

Boyd set his remarks against a demanding economic backdrop. Kenya carries a heavy public debt load measured in trillions of shillings, with a large share in domestic debt at interest rates in the mid teens. A substantial portion of all tax revenue now goes directly to interest payments. In that environment, asset managers do not just compete with one another; they compete with high yielding government securities for every shilling of savings.

The labour market adds another layer of pressure. Only a minority of Kenyans work in the formal sector, while many more are in informal work or government roles. For most families there is no guaranteed employer pension. Their future depends on how well institutions like ICEA LION protect and compound the money they put aside.

Excellence Begins With Individuals

A central thread in Boyd's speech was personal responsibility. Excellence, in his view, is not reserved for famous athletes or senior executives. It begins with each person doing the work in front of them with skill, honesty and care.

He illustrated this by describing a conversation with a hotel toilet cleaner. Boyd told him that his work probably does more good for Kenya than the actions of many politicians, because he serves others every day and takes pride in doing it well. The point was simple: dignity and excellence are tied to how work is done, not to job titles.

He then turned to former students whose careers embody this principle. One was the only student in a class of about three hundred and forty accounting undergraduates at the University of Nairobi to earn first class honours, an achievement known to be extremely difficult at that institution. Another rose to become a senior partner and chief executive in Eastern Africa, responsible for around one thousand five hundred employees across six African countries after years of demanding study and professional examinations. A third was recognised as the best internal auditor in the world after earlier awards as best employee in major organisations.

These stories all pointed in the same direction: consistent effort, high standards and refusal to cut corners produce careers that stand the test of time.

Learning From World Class Runners

To make the idea of excellence tangible, Boyd drew heavily on Kenyan athletics. He spoke about women who broke world records over five thousand metres and one thousand five hundred metres within a single day, running times once thought unreachable. He referenced a Kenyan marathoner who completed the forty two kilometre distance in one hour fifty nine minutes and forty two seconds, breaking the two hour barrier and redefining what people believed the human body could do.

He also highlighted the New York City Marathon, where Kenyan women recently swept first, second and third places. All three finished inside a course record that had stood for almost two decades. In the men's race, two Kenyans were separated by only three hundredths of a second, with both recording the same time of two hours eight minutes nine seconds. That gap marked the smallest margin of victory in the event's history and showed how tiny differences can decide outcomes after years of training.

The lesson for professionals was clear. In exams, investment decisions or client work, the difference between average and outstanding is often a small margin that comes from countless unseen choices: one more hour of study, one more check of the numbers, one more conversation to understand a client's needs.

Forty Years of Building ICEA LION

Boyd then moved from individual stories to the institution hosting the evening. ICEA LION Asset Management was founded in June 1985 and is described as the oldest fund management company in Kenya licensed by the capital markets authorities. Over four decades it has grown to manage hundreds of billions of shillings on behalf of clients. That longevity, he argued, is itself a mark of excellence in a market where many firms come and go.

Real estate provided one concrete example. ICEA LION manages a property portfolio that includes a site of about three and a half hectares, roughly nine and a half acres, with significant development potential and space for around one thousand parking places. Occupancy in this portfolio improved from roughly seventy five percent to eighty six percent in the last quarter of 2024, even after factoring in the undeveloped land. An eleven percentage point rise in occupancy translates into millions of shillings in additional rent and demonstrates strong asset management in a challenging environment.

The firm has also had to navigate setbacks. Boyd acknowledged that ICEA LION, like Kenya itself, has lived through political shocks, market crashes and economic slowdowns over the past forty years. His point was that, just as marathon runners must keep going through fatigue and changing conditions, institutions need the stamina to hold their course, learn from each crisis and keep serving clients.

Integrity Under Pressure

One of the most striking parts of the keynote focused on integrity. Boyd described a conversation with someone linked to the national examination system who suggested that exam papers could be bought in advance for large sums of money. The story highlighted how some schools try to win by drilling students on leaked questions rather than building genuine understanding.

Boyd rejected this approach outright and used it to warn against "win at any cost" cultures. Shortcuts may deliver short term success but they destroy trust and damage whole systems over time.

He contrasted that mindset with another former student, Oscar, who faced unemployment when he first arrived in London. Within forty eight hours he had sent his curriculum vitae to roughly four hundred potential employers. When he finally secured a position, he identified weaknesses in internal control documentation and built a system that impressed American regulators and became a standard for his firm. His success rested not on a secret advantage but on persistence, creativity and ethical work.

The National Stakes: Debt, Work and Service

Throughout his speech, Boyd kept returning to the link between personal excellence and national wellbeing. Kenya's heavy debt burden means a large share of future tax revenue is already committed to interest payments. That reduces room for essential services and makes it tempting for governments to borrow again to cover past obligations.

He urged the audience to recognise that, in such a context, every shilling entrusted to a pension fund, unit trust or insurance product carries a responsibility. Asset managers must resist the temptation to chase short term gains at the cost of long term stability, because the savings they manage often represent school fees, retirement hopes and family security.

Boyd also challenged cultures of low accountability in some public offices. He told the story of a young woman visiting the Immigration Department, where a crowded waiting room was told "the system is down, come back tomorrow." The message behind that phrase, he suggested, is one of indifference: salary arrives whether work is done or not. He contrasted that with private sector workers who must adapt, learn and deliver or risk losing their roles.

What Practitioners Can Do

Boyd's address offers clear guidance for professionals in finance, policy or any field.

• Focus on marginal gains in daily work. Identify the small decisions, reviews or client interactions where extra effort, such as double checking a spreadsheet, rehearsing a presentation or reading a policy carefully, could prevent major losses or create new opportunities.

• Protect integrity in high pressure environments. Refuse offers that promise quick gains at the cost of ethics, such as leaked exam papers or manipulated numbers, and design systems that make misconduct harder and transparency easier.

• Invest in people with proven perseverance. Look for colleagues or hires who, like Oscar, have sent hundreds of applications, repeated exams or rebuilt careers after setbacks; their resilience often translates into long term value for organisations.

• Treat every role as nation building. Whether cleaning facilities, processing documents or managing billions in assets, connect daily tasks to Kenya's future so that excellence becomes a civic duty, not just a job requirement.

• Think in decades, not quarters. Use ICEA LION's forty year journey and improvements such as raising occupancy from seventy five to eighty six percent as a reminder that small, steady gains in quality, efficiency and trust compound into major achievements over time.

Key Takeaways

• Forty years means maturity, not just survival. Financial institutions that reach four decades must demonstrate deeper confidence, clearer self knowledge and stronger stability in how they serve customers, especially when markets are turbulent.

• Walk the full journey with clients. A platform of eight businesses across life, general insurance, asset management and trust services allows clients to stay within one trusted group from first payslip through retirement and legacy planning.

• Tiny margins separate excellence from average. Kenyan marathoners separated by three hundredths of a second at the finish line show that years of training produce the small differences that determine who wins, and the same applies to professional work.

• One student among three hundred and forty earned first class honours. Exceptional performance at institutions like the University of Nairobi predicts long term career success better than connections or smooth presentations.

• Four hundred job applications demonstrate perseverance. Professionals who face hundreds of rejections before landing positions show resilience that creates lasting value for organisations.

• Eleven percentage points of occupancy improvement compounds over time. Real estate portfolios that raise occupancy from seventy five to eighty six percent generate exponentially more value over decades because the gains persist and build.

• A substantial share of tax revenue goes to debt service. When a large portion of collected taxes pays interest on public debt at double digit rates, asset managers must compete head on with government securities for every shilling of savings.

• Only a minority work in Kenya's formal sector. With most citizens in informal employment and lacking pension coverage, financial institutions hold real responsibility for protecting the futures ordinary families entrust to them.

• Build a country where talent chooses to stay. Kenya already produces world class runners, auditors and professionals; the next step is creating a nation children never need to leave because it is the best place in the world to live.

Keeping Talent and Hope at Home

Boyd ended with a challenge and a hope. Kenya already produces the world's fastest runners, some of the best auditors and many world class professionals. The next step, he argued, is to build a country where those children choose to stay, because it is "the best country in the world in which to live." That will only happen if individuals, institutions and the state all choose excellence over shortcuts, service over self interest and long distance discipline over quick wins.

The forty years of ICEA LION Asset Management show what is possible when those choices are made consistently. The question he posed, implicitly, to everyone in the room was simple: in the next lap of Kenya's race, will your work add to that excellence or erode it?

About the Event

ICEA LION Asset Management celebrated its 40th anniversary in Nairobi under the theme "40 Years of Prosperity With You in Mind." Group CEO Philip Lopokoiyit delivered opening remarks highlighting the firm's evolution into an eight business platform serving clients across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Dr James Boyd McFie delivered the keynote address, drawing on his long service in academia, corporate boards and capital markets. ICEA LION Asset Management was founded in June 1985 and is Kenya's oldest licensed fund management company, managing hundreds of billions of shillings in client assets.

This article is an independent reflection on remarks delivered by ICEA LION Group CEO Philip Lopokoiyit and Dr James Boyd McFie during ICEA LION Asset Management's "40 Years of Prosperity With You in Mind" celebration in Nairobi. It is written for learning and discussion and is not an official communication, policy statement or financial advice from ICEA LION or Dr McFie.