INSPENONLINE: PFAs invest N609.8bn pension funds in shares

Monday 17 March 2014

PFAs invest N609.8bn pension funds in shares

Acting-Director General, PenCom, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu

By Nike Popoola

By November last year, the Pension Fund Administrators had invested N609.8bn in shares, or about 15 per cent of the entire pension funds that stood at N4tn at the end of the 2013 financial period.

According to figures from the National Pension Commission on the distribution of pension assets, as of November ending, N558.17bn or about 14 per cent of the pension assets had been invested in domestic ordinary shares, while N51.67bn or one per cent was invested in foreign ordinary shares.

A total of N1.7tn or 44 per cent of the funds was invested in Federal Government of Nigeria securities; N643.45bn or 16 per cent was invested in treasury bills; while N407bn or 10 per cent of the funds was invested in local money market securities.

According to the PenCom figures, N205bn and N192bn were invested in state government securities and real estate properties, respectively.

The PFAs also invested N83.3bn in corporate debt securities, while N65.7bn was invested in cash and other assets.

About N8.7bn was invested in private equity fund, while the rest of the balance of about N736m was invested in foreign money market securities.

The Pension Fund Custodians s are mandated to take instructions from the PFAs on the investment of contributors’ funds, as they must not contract out the custody of pension fund assets to third parties, except for allowable investments made outside Nigeria, according to the latest investment guidelines released to the industry by PenCom.

In the aspect of foreign investment, the PFCs are to obtain prior approval from PenCom before engaging a global custodian for such allowable foreign investments.

Section 3.3 of the new investment guideline stated, "All primary market investments by PFAs in participation units of open, close-end, hybrid investment funds, including ETFs, and specialist investment funds (REITs, infrastructure fund and private equity fund), shall be through public offering or private placement arrangement."

It added that all secondary market trading of pension assets shall take place in a securities exchange (local and offshore) recognised by the Securities and Exchange Commission or a trading facility recognised by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
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Lawal is Inspen 2014 insurance man of the year

The former President Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) Fatai Lawal has emerged the 2014 Inspenonline Insurance Man of the year.

Fatai who is the the Managing Director Sterling Assurance Nigeria Limited was named today, at the Nigerian Insurance and Pension Award organised by Inspenonline.

Chief Executive Officer Inspenonline Media, Chuks Udo Okonta, said Lawal was picked from the votes casted by the public and other considerations made by the award's panel of assessors.

He noted that the winner raised the bar at the the Institute and the industry by opting to serve a tenure which was eventful and impactful. He added that amongst the legacies left by the winner was the printing and donation of Insurance books to secondary and tertiary institutions aimed at deepening insurance awareness.

Okonta noted that the award, which started two years ago with the recognition of two distinguished individuals and an underwriting company, has now come to stay.

"This year, we decided to raise the bar by setting high standards to judge the operations of companies and impacts made by individuals in moving insurance and pension business forward.

"To achieve this, we gave the public the opportunity to select those to be celebrated by calling for votes. Having harmonised the votes which came from different parts of the country, we benchmarked the scores with the set standard to arrive at the winners we are celebrating today," he said.

Others winners are AIICO Insurance Plc, Insurance company of the year; FUG Pensions Limited, Pension Fund Administrator of the Year; YOA Insurance Brokers Limited and Glanvill Enthoven Insurance Brokers Limited, Insurance Broker of the year.

Professional Excellence Award went to Professor Joe Irukwu; Best Professional Group went to the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria and Association of Registered Insurance Agents of Nigeria; Corporate Brand went to Mansard Insurance Plc and Leadway Assurance Limited while Corporate Social Responsibility Award was won by Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc.

The organisers also recognised organisations that distinguished themselves, with Excellence Award. Organisations in this category include the National Pension Commission, Lagos State Pension Commission, Goldlink Insurance Plc and Pension Transition Administration Directorate.

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