Trustees and their fund managers have inadequate knowledge of housing markets, especially low-income submarkets, and are unfamiliar with the associated investment risks. Indeed, the pension fund community has scanty knowledge of housing microfinance and the incremental construction process that is commonly used by the vast majority of households to improve their housing. In the four East African countries of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda, the geographic focus of this study2, pension assets constitute a large pool of funds, equivalent to a significant part of GDP.3 In spite of their suitability for financing housing, pension funds have seen limited use in the housing sector for a number of reasons.