In Seven Months, Pension Funds Rose By N480bn

The total pension fund assets under the Contributory Pension Scheme rose by N480bn between January and July 2021.

Figures obtained from the National Pension Commission on its unaudited report on the pension funds industry portfolio for the period ended July 31, 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 funds which stood at N12.3tn as of the end of December 2020 rose to N12.78tn as of the end of July, the data showed.

According to the data, the number of registered workers, however, had a slow growth of 189,745 from 9,215,788 as of December ending to 9,405,533 as of the end of July.

The commission disclosed that the largest part of the funds was invested in Federal Government’s securities.

It added that the funds were invested in portfolios such as 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 Pension Fund Administrators 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.