Pension Fund Investment in Infrastructure Rises to N2.22bn

• Pension Fund Investment in Infrastructure Rises to N2.22bn

The total pension funds invested in infrastructure rose to N2.22bn as of the end of February, figures obtained from the National Pension Commission had indicated.

This, according to the latest report from the commission, amounts to about 0.04 per cent of the total pension assets.

In May 2015, the operators invested a sum of N568m in infrastructure for the first time and increased it to N1.35bn in December 2015.

By September 2016, they had invested N1.82bn in infrastructure bond out of the total assets that currently stands at N6.2tn.

The Chairman, Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, Mr. Eguarehide Longe, said the pension funds were active in different investment portfolios.

According to him, the bulk of the funds have been invested in government bonds and some part of the funds invested in infrastructure.

Ideally, he explained, the money that had been borrowed for reasonably long term should be used for long-term assets and not to fund recurrent expenditure.

“We are there to invest in a way that the funds will not be lost,” he said.

According to him, if the funds are used for infrastructure, this will have significant impact on the economy.

While noting that some investors had been approaching the sector to access the funds, he said that the real sector was not a place to just invest huge amount and that sectors such as agriculture were areas that needed to be well understood before the funds should go there.

He noted that it was not the job of the operators to build infrastructural facilities or spend the funds in extremely speculative areas.