Pension Assets Rise By N92bn To N12.34trn

Pension assets, under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) have risen by N92 billion to hit N12.340 trillion in March 2021 from the N12.248tr recorded in February 2021.

The unaudited report on Pension Funds Industry Portfolio released by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) also showed that total Retirement Savings Account (RSA) registration jumped by 34,911 accounts to stand at 9,300,058 as at the end of March 2021 from the 9,265,141 recorded as at the end of February 2021.

The Economic Confidential recalls that pension assets dipped by N51.30bn to stand at N12.25tr in February 2021 from the N12.299tr recorded in January 2021.

PenCom explained that the decline of recorded in February was “mainly attributed to the depreciation in the prices of Fixed Income Securities (FISs) in the trading portfolios of the Approved Existing Schemes (AES), RSA Funds II & IV and Closed Pension Fund Administrators (CPFA), thereby creating unrealized losses on Marked to Market FISs.”

The apex regulatory agency for pension matters in Nigeria also explained further, “The values of the bonds in the trading portfolios fluctuate based on supply and demand of the underlying securities as well as the outlook of the financial market.”

However, the N92bn gained in March, 2021 has returned pension assets on the path of renewed growth.