Expert Advises on Investment Projects for Pension Funds

• Expert Advises on Investment Projects for Pension Funds

Investors in the private sector and the government need to create viable investment projects where pension and insurance funds can be invested in.

The Managing Director, Sigma Pensions, Mr. Dave Uduanu, said this during a business conference by Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria as part of activities to celebrate its fifth anniversary in Lagos.

While sharing his views during a panel session on the theme, ‘Pension funds as a source of financing for the real sector’, Uduanu explained that the growing pension funds could not be invested in any kind of infrastructure projects because they were contributed by workers for their pension payments.

“I think the key thing is that the private sector should engage more with the government; there is a whole lot of information available and the private sector should do more; investment banks and intermediaries should do more to help prepare projects were pension operators and insurance companies can invest the available funds in,” he said.

Uduanu, who noted that more of the funds should be invested in the real sector of the economy, stated that there should be supply of instruments of listed companies and quality infrastructural instruments.

He said there was a need to create interest incentives such as treasury incentives to allow people to take mortgages at single interest rates.

Uduanu explained efforts being made by the pension operators to improve the investment of pension funds to increase its value.

The pension expert noted that the companies were also considering forming consortia to enable them to invest the funds in bigger and more viable projects.

He said the industry was ensuring due diligence and working with other relevant bodies to analyse investment opportunities and bring them into the market to make them investible.

While noting that the government had laid out the economic approach to attract private sector investment, he stated that there was a need for it to increase revenue from taxes in order to have more money to spend.