Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) said no fewer than N303.58 billion was invested in MTN Nigeria Series I and Dangote Industries Series I as of the second quarter of 2023.
This was revealed in a report made available by the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) at a seminar tagged: ‘At the dawn of 20 years of pension reform, what are the gains?’ organised by the association in Lagos.
Speaking on the report, the Chief Executive Officer, PenOp Oguche Agudah, said the investments formed part of corporate debt securities in the pension fund assets investments portfolio.
PenOp also stated in the report that N400 billion was invested in energy power; N40 billion in Flour mills of Nigeria; N11.7 billion in Unity Capital Series 11; N100 billion in LFZC funding special purpose vehicle and N45 billion in Shelter Afrique Series 1.
He noted that Pension Fund Operators (PFOs) also grew workers’ pension contributions by over N8 trillion accruing from investments.
He explained that the total funds under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) stood at 17.64 trillion as of October 2023, while contributions made by workers from both private and public sectors stood at over N9 trillion.
Oguche said that workers’ contributions accounted for 54 per cent, while the return on investment accounted for 46 per cent of the entire pension fund assets as of the end of June 2023 from the beginning of the CPS in 2004.
He added that workers’ contributions were judiciously invested and the returns were added to the workers’ pension savings, to reduce the effect of inflation on the funds.
Further figures, from him, showed that as of the end of the third quarter of 2023, the PFAs had recovered N24.8 billion from defaulting employers,
The PenOp CEO noted that in the second quarter, of 2023, N665.13 billion had been paid as a lump sum to annuity retirees; and N964.24 billion to programmed withdrawal retirees, making a total of N1.64 trillion to 442,000 retirees.
He said that N208.86 billion was paid to 475,235 workers who lost their jobs before getting to the official retirement age and were unable to get another job after four months.
Total death benefits paid to 91,214 beneficiaries, he said amounted to N356.32 billion in the second quarter of 2023.
The report by Oguche showed that 649 contributors got approval to access N7.89 billion from their RSAs for residential mortgages.
He added that the operators looked forward to more applicants and approvals for RSA mortgage, possible kick-off of offshore investment, and infrastructure consortium.
Oguche maintained that between 2007 and July 2023, contributors under the CPS rose from 2,543,178 to 10,023,314.
President of PenOp and Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited Olumide Oyetan, said the CPS remains one of the greatest national policies of democracy, stating that before the commencement of the CPS, retirees were subjected to old age poverty as they were unable to get their pension at retirement.
He posited that the CPS is unique due to the safe valves, checks, and balances ensured by the tripod structure which are the regulator, PFAs, and Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs).
He said pension operators would continue to innovate and comply with stipulated rules in offering quality services to contributors and retirees.
