The Pension Fund Administrators have invested N636.99bn out of the total pension funds in their custody in banks as of the end of November 2018.
This amounted to 7.49 per cent of the funds managed by the pension operators.
Figures obtained from the National Pension Commission during the period under review revealed that the total pension fund was N8.49tn.
N15.7bn or 0.19 per cent of the pension assets was invested in mutual funds, while N17.51bn or 0.21 per cent of the funds was invested in cash and other assets.
The President, Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, Mrs Aderonke Adedeji, said that the issue of the role of pension funds in economic development had moved into the focus of public attention, particularly with regard to Nigeria’s growing need for long term capital.
She explained that successful mobilization of pension fund assets and its contributions to the economic growth of any nation were essential policy objectives.
“For the first time, our country can now boast of a long term funding base and the impact to date has included the funding of the government and government projects, development of the capital market as well as increased foreign development inflows,” she said.
She, however, called for caution in view of the recent agitations to access the funds for infrastructure.
PenCom also plans to commence the micro-pension scheme for the informal sector.
According to a statement, the initiative is expected to attract over 20 million workers and N3tn funds under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
To ensure seamless operations, PenCom and the pension fund operators have developed Information Technology to support the plan.
The commission had also engaged the informal sector groups, such as the Nigerian Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigerian, a body consisting self-employed tailors and garment workers; partner trade associations, non-government organizations and religious bodies in a bid to persuade them to subscribe to the micro-pension plan.
