THE total assets under the Contributory Pension Scheme rose to N5.14 trillion at the end of October this year.

The figures obtained from the National Pension Commission showed that 56.28 per cent of the money totalling N2.8 trillion was invested in Federal Government of Nigeria bonds, while 10.27 per cent or N528.76 billion was invested in treasury bills.

A total of N514.28 billion, which is about 9.9 per cent of the total pension assets, was invested in domestic ordinary shares.
According to the figures, 10.41 per cent or N535.90 billion was invested in local money market securities, while 4.08 per cent totalling N209.87 billionn was invested in real estate properties.

Similarly, N162.03 billion or 3.15 per cent and 3.05 per cent or N156.877 of the growing funds were invested in state government securities and corporate debt securities, respectively; while 1.35 per cent or N69.66 billion was invested in foreign ordinary shares by the Pension Fund Administrators in the period under review.

The operators invested about 0.42 per cent each amounting to N21.5 billion and N21.8 billion in open/close end funds and cash and other assets, while 0.34 per cent or N17.3 billion and 0.22 per cent or N11.55 billion were invested in private equity funds and supra-natural bonds, respectively.

The operators invested 0.02 per cent and 0.01 per cent of the funds totalling N1.2 billion and N651.8 million in infrastructure funds and foreign money market securities, respectively.

The Director-General, PenCom, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, said with the enhanced provisions of the Pension Reform Act, 2014, the commission was intensifying efforts at extending the coverage of the CPS to the underserved economic segments such as the informal sector through the micro pension initiative.

“The challenge of instituting effective and sustainable pension systems remains an issue in Nigeria as well as most African countries. However, the Federal Government of Nigeria took a remarkable step in changing the pension landscape through the enactment of the Pension Reform Act in 2004,”she said.

This, Anohu-Amazu added, led to the introduction of the CPS and the establishment of PenCom as the regulator of the industry.

According to her, the quest to deliver better pensions to retirees guided by the experiences garnered in the 10 years of the implementation of the pension reform necessitated the revision of the 2004 Act.

After an extensive stakeholders’ consultation and legislative scrutiny, the new Pension Reform Act 2014 was enacted, which came into effect in July of that year, she explained.

Anohu-Amazu explained that the PRA 2014 re-enacted the fundamental provisions of the repealed Act of 2004, which included the establishment of the CPS, uniform standard for pension administration as well as PenCom as the sole regulator and supervisor of pension matters in Nigeria.

However, she said there were new developments introduced by the PRA 2014, such as the upward review of the minimum rate of pension contribution and sanctions and penalties against infractions of the provisions of the Act.

“Furthermore, the PRA 2014 has introduced a provision that allows contributors seeking to own their primary homes to apply part of their Retirement Savings Account balances as equity contribution for residential mortgages, subject to the guidelines issued by the commission,” she said.