Nigeria’s contributory pension assets rose by N4.26tn between October 2023 and October 2024, indicating a 24.14 per cent rise, data from the National Pension Commission has revealed.
At the end of October, PenCom in its monthly report revealed that the value of the pension assets stood at N21.92tn, compared to N17.66tn at the end of the same period in 2023.
In terms of asset composition, the dynamics of the asset mix for pension Assets Under Management remained relatively unchanged, with the majority of pension assets concentrated in government securities.
In the period under review, investment of pension funds in Federal Government securities rose from N11.42tn to N13.57tn.
Funds invested in corporate debt securities also rose to N2.29tn, that of money market instruments stood at N2.20tn and mutual funds was N106.85bn from N112.52bn, reflecting a 5.04 per cent decline.
Over one year, the number of retirement savings accounts grew by 394,679 to 10,535,608.
On a month-on-month basis, the pension assets grew by N541bn to N21. 92tn from N21.38tn in September.
During the week, PenCom lifted the suspension it placed on pension fund administrators regarding investments in commercial papers.
According to a circular issued by PENCOM on Tuesday, the suspension was lifted following draft rules on the activities by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Head of the Investment Supervision Department, PENCOM, Abdulqadir Dahiru, who signed the circular, said, “The commission has noted that the Securities and Exchange Commission has developed draft rules and an amendment to rule 8 (Exemptions) to regulate the issuance of commercial papers by its regulated entities.
“Accordingly, the SEC is addressing the commission’s concern about the role of non-bank IPAs in commercial paper transactions by bringing them within regulatory boundaries.
“Consequently, to facilitate capital raising and ensure continued market stability, the commission has lifted its restriction on LPFAs investing in commercial papers where capital market operators act as IPAs.”
PENCOM advised licensed pension fund administrators to ensure that appropriate legal and financial due diligence was undertaken on all prospectus/offer documents of all commercial papers before investment as stipulated in Section 2.9 of the Regulation on Investment of Pension Fund Assets.
