Access to investment opportunities is not determined by the availability of financial products alone. For many individuals, businesses and community investment groups, the greater challenge is understanding how those products work, what risks they carry and how they can support long-term financial security.
Brenda Bisikwa Koloto has built her career around addressing this gap, helping individuals and institutions navigate financial products and make more informed investment decisions.
With nearly a decade of experience across life assurance, fixed-income distribution, wealth advisory and asset management, Koloto has developed expertise at the intersection of financial education, investment strategy and wealth creation. At Old Mutual Uganda, she works across wealth advisory and collective investment schemes, helping clients understand investment opportunities and translate financial goals into structured investment decisions.
Her work spans retail investors, high-net-worth individuals, Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations (SACCOs), corporate clients and communal investment groups. Through financial education initiatives, advisory engagements and investment programmes, she has contributed to expanding understanding of formal investment products among different segments of the Ugandan market.
From Life Assurance to Wealth Advisory
Koloto’s professional journey began in life assurance, where she gained experience in helping individuals and families manage financial risks. Working with life insurance products, including family protection and credit life coverage, exposed her to the importance of financial preparedness and the consequences of inadequate risk planning.
This early experience provided a foundation for her subsequent work in wealth management. It reinforced the relationship between financial protection and long-term wealth creation, particularly the need to secure individuals and families against unexpected financial disruptions before pursuing broader investment objectives.
Her career later expanded into asset management and wealth advisory at Old Mutual Uganda, where she became involved in helping clients understand collective investment schemes and other formal investment opportunities.
Collective investment schemes provide a mechanism through which investors pool their resources into professionally managed portfolios. Products such as money market, balanced and umbrella funds allow individuals and organisations to access investment opportunities that might otherwise require greater capital, specialised knowledge or direct participation in financial markets.
For many first-time investors, however, understanding the differences between investment products, their underlying assets, expected returns and associated risks can be challenging. Koloto’s role involves translating these technical considerations into practical financial guidance that enables clients to make decisions aligned with their objectives and risk appetite.
Making Investment Knowledge More Accessible
A defining aspect of Koloto’s work has been her involvement in financial education and investor engagement.
Through corporate wellness programmes, advisory sessions for SACCOs and public financial masterclasses, she has trained, onboarded and structured investment portfolios for more than 1,000 clients. These engagements have focused on improving financial understanding and helping participants identify appropriate approaches to saving and investing.
Her work with SACCOs and communal investment groups is particularly relevant in markets where collective saving and investment arrangements play an important role in household and community financial planning. Such groups often require guidance on investment structures, governance arrangements, liquidity needs and the management of pooled resources.
By explaining formal investment products in accessible terms, Koloto helps bridge the gap between technical financial services and the people seeking to use them. Her engagement with retail investors and institutional clients also exposes her to different investment priorities, from preserving short-term liquidity to building longer-term portfolios.
This work is especially relevant in the context of Uganda’s developing capital markets, where broader participation requires not only accessible products but also informed investors who understand the relationship between risk, returns and investment time horizons.
Beyond the Numbers: Financial Behaviour and Personal Development
Koloto’s interests extend beyond investment products and portfolio management into the behavioural dimensions of financial decision-making.
Her work as a published author, including Made To Sparkle, broadens her public engagement into themes of personal development, resilience and self-governance. The book complements her financial education work by exploring aspects of individual growth and the importance of intentional decision-making.
This perspective adds another dimension to her approach to wealth advisory. Financial decisions are influenced not only by income and investment opportunities but also by personal priorities, spending habits, debt commitments and attitudes towards risk. Understanding these factors can help individuals develop more disciplined approaches to managing money and pursuing financial goals.
Through her writing and digital engagement, Koloto has extended her platform beyond conventional financial advisory, connecting conversations about personal development with the broader principles of financial responsibility and long-term planning.
Preparing for Boardroom Leadership
Koloto’s selection for the Journey to the Boardroom 2027 Cohort marks an important development in her professional journey, extending her experience in financial services and client advisory into the wider field of corporate governance.
Her background in life assurance, wealth advisory and collective investment schemes provides exposure to several areas relevant to board oversight, including investment risk, liquidity management, portfolio performance and fiduciary responsibility.
Her work with SACCOs and communal investment groups also gives her an understanding of the governance challenges associated with pooled capital. These include accountability to members, transparent decision-making, investment policy development and the need to protect the interests of stakeholders whose resources are collectively managed.
At board level, her experience in financial education offers an additional perspective. Effective oversight requires directors to understand the financial information presented to them, assess the risks associated with investment decisions and question assumptions where necessary. The ability to communicate complex financial concepts clearly is therefore relevant not only to investor engagement but also to informed board deliberations.
Through the Journey to the Boardroom programme, Koloto is developing this experience within the context of board leadership, where financial stewardship, strategic oversight and accountability are central responsibilities.
The Next Chapter
The development of African capital markets depends partly on the ability of financial institutions to expand participation and build confidence among investors. This requires investment products that respond to different financial needs, alongside sustained efforts to improve financial literacy and strengthen investor understanding.
Koloto’s career reflects the connection between these priorities. From her early experience in life assurance to her work in wealth advisory, collective investment schemes and financial education, she has built a professional path around helping individuals and organisations engage more confidently with formal financial services.
Her selection for the Journey to the Boardroom 2027 Cohort creates an opportunity to extend that experience into corporate governance. As she moves towards broader board-level responsibilities, her background in investment advisory, collective capital and financial education offers a perspective grounded in both institutional finance and the needs of the people and organisations that participate in it.
