About N2.64trn pension assets invested in FGN securities - PenCom

From left: Commission Secretary/Legal Adviser, National Pension Commission (PenCom) Muhammad Sanni Muhammad; Chairman Pension Operators Association of Nigeria PenOp and Managing Director Legacy Pension Managers Limited, Misbahu Yola and Managing Director First Pension Custodian Limited, Kunle Jinadu at the event in Lagos.

 

Chuks Udo Okonta

Federal Government Securities have continued to enjoyed investments from the pension sector as about N2.64 trillion which is 63 per cent of N4.13 trillion contributors’ funds, have been injected into them as at the end of March this year.

The pension assets have jumped to N4.3 trillion by the end of April.

 The Acting Director-General National Pension Commission (PenCom), Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, who was represented by the Commission’s Secretary/Legal Adviser, Muhammad Sanni Muhammad, disclosed this today Monday, at the 8^th Annual Business Law Conference, organized by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Lagos.

Anohu-Amazu, in a paper entitled: The Contributory Pension Scheme as a Catalyst for Economic Development in Nigeria, said the proportion of the pension assets to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grew from 1.4 per cent in 2005 to 9.5 per cent in 2013, adding that the industry has an average yearly growth of 30 per cent.

Muhammad

She noted that the number of registered contributors  is  over 5,980,415 as at February 2014, stressing that there are 95,840 retirees currently receiving pensions as and when due under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) as at March 2014 and that Nigerian CPS has become a model for other African countries: Study visitations from Ghana, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania. 

Chairman Pension Operators Association of Nigeria PenOp and Managing Director Legacy Pension Managers Limited, Misbahu Yola, said the contributory pension scheme has in-built safety mechanism that ensures adequate protection of contributors' fund.

He noted that that operators are properly regulated to ensure funds are invested in secured investment windows.

Managing Director First Pension Custodian Limited, Kunle Jinadu, noted that the funds deposited with the custodians are safe, adding that his firm's priority is to ensure that contributors derive benefits accruable from the scheme at retirement.   

 

PENSION ASSETS DISTRIBUTION AS AT MARCH, 2014

 

Domestic Ordinary Shares	566,570.62	13.72
Foreign Ordinary Shares	52,930.71	1.28
Total FGN Securities	2,638,414.69	63.91
State Govt. Securities	197,671.35	4.79
Corporate Debt Securities	80,457.96	1.95
Supra-National Bonds	1,730.35	0.04
Local Money Market Securities	318,080.63	7.7
Foreign Money Market Securities	1,015.42	0.02
Open/Close-End Funds	20,762.36	0.5
Real Estate Property	153,237.53	3.71
Private Equity Fund	51,406.08	1.25
Cash & Other Assets	46,008.74	1.11
Total Pension Fund Assets	4,128,286.43	100

 

Head, Communication Unit National Pension Commission (PenCom), Emeka Onuora (middle) and other members of staff of the commission at the event.