Pension fund assets rose by N1.68trn in one year, says PenCom

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) says total pension fund assets increased from N13.76 trillion to N15.45 trillion in one year.

The figure represents an increase of N1.68 trillion during the period under review (February 2022 — February 2023).

This is contained in the commission’s unaudited report on the pension funds industry portfolio for the period ended February 28, 2023.

The report provided information on the approved existing schemes, closed pension fund administrators and retirement savings account (RSA) funds (including unremitted contributions at the Central Bank of Nigeria and legacy funds).

The commission’s report showed that N9.98 trillion or 64.4 percent of the total funds were invested in federal government securities, comprising bonds and treasury bills.

Other investment portfolios where the funds were invested included domestic and foreign ordinary shares; real estate; corporate debt securities comprising corporate bonds; corporate infrastructure bonds; corporate green bonds, and supranational bonds.

PenCom also said the number of retirement savings accounts stood at 9,919,281 as at February 28, 2023.

Recently, the commission said reforms under the contributory pension scheme (CPS) eased challenges encountered by employees.

The CPS is an arrangement where both the employer and the employee contribute towards the payment of the worker’s pension at retirement.

PenCom said it had implemented several reforms including the recovery of over N10 billion outstanding pension contribution, and the payment of outstanding pension liabilities.

The commission had also approved the increase of monthly pensions for retirees on “programmed withdrawal” under the CPS.