Pension Fund Rises to N7.94tn

• Pension Fund Rises to N7.94tn

The total pension fund under management by pension operators rose to N7.94tn at the end of March this year, figures released by the National Pension Commission on Wednesday showed.

In the same period, Pension Fund Administrators invested a total of N7.98bn of the funds in infrastructure.

Figures obtained from PenCom revealed that the pension fund rose from N4.6tn at the end of the 2014 financial period to N5.3tn in 2015. For the 2016 financial period, the assets stood at N6.16tn.

At the end of November 2017, the total pension assets under the CPS were N7.4tn.

The commission revealed that the operators invested substantial part of the pension fund in Federal Government bonds, treasury bills and state government securities.

The PenCom report stated that some of the money invested in agency bonds, supra-national bonds, commercial papers, foreign money market securities, and open/close-end funds.

Other investment portfolios where the operators invested the funds are REITS, private equity funds, infrastructure funds, cash and other assets.

The President, Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, Mrs. Aderonke Adedeji, said the operators could not spend the pension fund on any kind of project.

“We will make sure there is a more systematic and structured way of using the funds for the benefits of our customers and our nation,” she stated.

According to her, the operators are already considering other classes of alternative investment structures that will improve the returns on the funds.

Last year, the commission reviewed the regulations for the investment of pension fund, stating that the PFAs must offer a multi-fund structure for the Retirement Savings Accounts of contributors.

Speaking on one of the guidelines, an official of PenCom, Mr. Babatunde Philips, said in 2017, the commission released the amended regulation on investment of pension fund assets.

He noted that the new investment guidelines introduced a multi-fund structure, which replaced the former structure that put all active contributors into one Retirement Savings Account fund without consideration for age or risk profiles of contributors.

Under the new structure, he explained that all PFAs offered the multi-fund structure for the RSA, which comprised four funds and differed based on overall exposure to variable income instruments, and that the different funds were made to fit the ages and risk profiles of contributors.

“The fund types include Fund I, which is for young contributors based on choice; Fund II, for young and middle-aged contributors (ages 49 years and below); Fund III, for pre-retirees (ages 50 years and above); and Fund IV for retirees,” Philips explained.