Pension Assets Fall By ₦2bn In One Month – NPC

The National Pension Commission (NPC) has said the total assets under the contributory pension scheme lost nearly ₦2bn in one month.

Naija News reports that the Commission stated this in its latest report titled, ‘Unaudited report on pension funds industry portfolio for the period ended 30 September 2022.’

According to the report, the figure, which stood at ₦14.426tn as of the end of August 2022, fell slightly to ₦14.424tn as of the end of September 2022.

The total assets under the contributory pension scheme had earlier gained ₦1.01tn since the beginning of the year before setting on a downward trend.

The funds, which ended December 31, 2021, at ₦13.42tn, rose to ₦14.426tn by the end of August.

According to PenCom’s report, the total number of workers with Retirement Savings Accounts was 9,792,486 as of the end of September, adding that ₦9.91tn or 63.73tn of the funds was invested in FGN securities.

The operators invested ₦1.49tn or 10.31 percent in corporate debt securities, while ₦2.11tn or 14.59 percent was invested in money market instruments.

The operators invested ₦59.63bn in mutual funds in the period under review.

Under the Pension Reform Act 2014, the Pension Fund Administrators manage the funds which are kept in the custody of the Pension Fund Custodians.

Profits earned from the investment of pension funds are required to lift up the balances in the workers’ Retirement Savings Accounts.

The PFAs are required to follow the investment guidelines of PenCom in putting investing funds in any portfolio.