Total pension assets under the Contributory Pension Scheme rose by ₦2.1tn to ₦12.3tn as of the of the 2020 from ₦10.2tn as of the end 2019, latest statistics from the National Pension Commission showed on Thursday.
PenCom stated that ₦8.13tn of the funds was invested in Federal Government of Nigeria Bonds. According to the figures, ₦858.46bn and ₦92.91bn were invested in domestic and foreign ordinary shares respectively.
It added that ₦1.68tn and ₦161.39bn were also 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 RSA holders may transfer their accounts from one Pension Fund Administrator to another once in a year, in line with 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 would enable 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 would better satisfy their pursuit of a comfortable retirement.
According to Odutola, the 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 PFA Limited, Mr Wale Kolawole, said the survival of the Pension Funds Administrators depended on excellent service.
He said, “The survival of Pension Fund Administrators would 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.”
Source: Punch
