Contributory Pension Assets Rise To N12.4trn

The total assets under the Contributory Pension Scheme rose to N12.4tn as of the end of April, according to the latest data obtained from the National Pension Commission on Wednesday.

PenCom, in its unaudited report on the pension funds industry portfolio for the period ended April 30, 2021, also provided data on the approved existing schemes, Closed Pension Fund Administrators and Retirement Savings Funds (including unremitted contributions at the Central Bank of Nigeria and legacy funds).

The CPS, which lost some funds in recent months, returned to a growth path as it gained N92bn in March.

The data showed that the funds rose to N12.34tn as of the end of March from N12.25tn in February.

The assets, which had been the fastest-growing funds in the economy, lost N7bn in January and another N52bn in February.

According to PenCom, N8.4tn of the funds was invested in Federal Government’s securities in March.

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

The funds were also invested in local money market securities, comprising bank placements, commercial papers and foreign money market securities.

The PFAs invested the rest in mutual funds comprising open/close-end funds, real estate investment trusts, real estate properties, private equity funds, infrastructure funds, cash and other assets.

The President, Association of Pension Fund Operators of Nigeria, Mr Wale Odutola, said a two-month period could not be used to judge the long-term trend of the pension assets.

“What you should pay attention to more is the yearly trend and how it had moved on in a yearly basis over a long time. That gives you a better sense of what the trend is,” he said.

Odutola noted that pension funds were largely invested in fixed income securities.