Nigeria’s total pension assets rose by N2.1tn to N12.3tn in 2020 from N10.2tn at the end of 2019, according to the latest statistics from the National Pension Commission.
Nigeria’s Pension Commission (PenCom) disclosed that N8.13tn of the funds was invested in Federal Government of Nigeria Bonds.
According to the figures, N858.46bn and N92.91bn were invested in domestic and foreign ordinary shares respectively.
It also added that N1.68tn and N161.39bn were invested in local money market securities and mutual funds respectively.
As part of efforts to boost services in the industry, PenCom opened the transfer window to enable workers in the Contributory Pension Scheme to change their pension companies.
PenCom said Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders may transfer their accounts from one Pension Fund Administrator to another once in a year, in accordance with the Section 13 of the Pension Reform Act 2014.
Prior to this launch, the commission said it had successfully developed the RSA transfer application, a robust electronic platform that will aid seamless RSA transfers.
In addition, it said the commission had conducted extensive workshops for licensed pension operators and state pension bureaus in readiness for the event.
The Managing Director, ARM Pension, Wale Odutola, said it gave every RSA holder the opportunity to move from their current PFA to a preferred one which they believed will better satisfy their pursuit of a comfortable retirement.
According to Odutola, the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) was currently providing safety nets for about 233,493 retirees on programmed withdrawal and over nine million contributors, with consistent growth of pension assets in nominal terms of about 17.6 per cent over a five-year period.
The Managing Director, NLPC Pension Fund Administrator Limited (PFA), Mr Wale Kolawole, said the survival of the Pension Funds Administrators depended on excellent service.
He said, “The survival of Pension Fund Administrators will depend largely on service delivery.
“Based on this, special focus has been placed by NLPC Pension Fund Administrators on these key areas of its operations:
“Prompt crediting of contributions and SMS alert that shows the contributions credited with the closing investment value, achieving excellent returns on investment and ensuring that benefits are paid speedily.”
