Trustfund decries non-remittance of pension funds

The Trustfund Pensions has lamented the non-remittance of pension funds by both the Federal and State governments.

Speaking in Abuja at the 2016 edition of Compliance Week, the managing director of Trustfund Pensions, Mrs. Helen Da-Souza, said the non-remittance of the funds may threaten the implementation of the pension contributory scheme in the long run.

Her words: “We are not getting remittances from both the Federal and state governments. By that development, we are restricted to the funding from the privates sector. Even at that, the funds coming from the private sector is also very low because of the prevailing economic situation the country is passing through presently. We now have a lot of companies not doing very well. Though they are far better than government, but there are still wide gulp between what we are getting now and what we should be getting.”

She hinted that the number of Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) Trustfund has stands at 680,000 while funds under management is presently over N368billion.

Though, Mrs. Da-Souza continually lamented non-remittance of pension funds, which has emerged one of the most formidable challenges confronting pension administration in the country, she lauded the regulatory body – National Pension Commission – for steadying the ship of pension administration in the country despite the daunting challenges.

“I must commend the Director General of Pencom because she is really engaging the government. The stakeholders believe that she is on top of the situation. We are hoping that before the end of the year, we will see something done about the situation,” she explained.

While decrying non-remittance of funds by employers, Mrs. Da-Souza hinted that Pencom has taken some fresh initiatives aimed at tackling the practice, saying, “Pencom has taking some initiatives which involve employing consultants ensure remittances by employers. In fact, we are seeing employers now remitting even with penalties.”

The Trustfund helmsman also bemoaned inadequate documentation by workers upon retirement, which has proven difficult to tackle. However, she was quick to add that documentation process has also improved in the last few months after aggressive enlightenment campaign and pre-retirement seminars by the organization.

On her part, the Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) of Trustfund Pensions, Rachael Oba-Obi, explained that the theme for 2016 edition of Compliance and Ethics Week, which is entitled, ‘Provide, Protect and Prevent’, is aimed at promoting the culture of rules and regulations observance and what is needed to boost customers’ satisfaction.

She added: “Our job entails protecting the funds that have been kept in our care. The grating of operational license is not a permanent thing. The regulator has the right to either suspend operations if the rules and regulations are not complied with. Therefore, for us collectively, we are work assiduously that such development does not happen. Not only do we abhour experiencing license withdrawal or a threat of it, but also don’t want to do anything that will warrant sanction or warning for infraction. What the management wishes to restate during the 2016 compliance week is to continue working together as a team to render world class service aimed at protecting the funds under our management and also ensure that we have a growing concern, which is Trustfund Pensions.”