FUG Pensions eyes gains in new pension act for growth



From left: Head Operations FUG Pensions Wale Oton; Company Secretary Habib Darannijo; Managing Director Usman Suleiman and Head, Business Development and Relationship Management Godswill Egbe at the annual general meeting of National Association of Insurance Correspondents in Lagos.

Chuks Udo Okonta

FUG Pensions is set to take advantage of the provisions of the newly signed Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014 to deepen penetration and grow market share, its Managing Director Usman Suleiman, has said.

He disclosed this today at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of National Association of Insurance Correspondents in Lagos. He noted that the firm hopes to harness opportunities to be provided by the much awaited transfer window that would give contributors the freedom to select pension fund administrators of their choice and also catch in on the integration of the informal sector into the scheme.

He said the firm in living up to its vision which is to be a leading and most trusted name in pension management, has positioned itself by operating six fully regional offices located in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Abuja, Kano and Maiduguri. He added that the firm also has 21 state and zonal offices spread across the country.

Usman said the company remains the only PFA with two simultaneous disaster recovery sites located in Lagos and Abuja, stressing that the firm’s capital currently stands at an enviable level of N1.5 billion, a quantum leap from the statutory minimum requirement of N1 billion.

He said the firm has been appointed in 11 out of the 15 states that have keyed into the scheme, stressing that the firm is in two out of the three states considered best in pension contributions, and were recently given awards by President Goodluck Jonathan at the World Pension Summit in Abuja.

“In addition to the states, FUG Pensions is widely recognised in both public and private sectors. Our company is one of the PFAs managing Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pension scheme, we are the lead PFA for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the Union Homes Plc Staff Legacy Pension Fund and the only PFA managing Unity Bank Plc staff Legacy Fund. We are also the only PFA that managed the ECOWAS Pension Scheme. With an annualised return on investment of over 12 per cent and a return of over 72 per cent in seven years of our existence, it is no surprise  that more and more institutions are lining up to appoint FUG Pensions to manage their schemes,” he said.

He noted that the firm over the years have placed high premium on human capacity development, professionalism and information and communications technology, stressing that the investments are greatly impacting the firm’s operations.