Nigeria’s pension fund asset gains N453.8 billion in Q1 2022 as 12,336 contributors switch PFAs

Nigerian Pension Fund Index post double digit gains for 2021, beat inflation

Nigeria’s pension fund assets increased by N453.8 billion in the first quarter of 2022 to stand at N13.88 trillion as of the end of March 2022, representing the highest level on record.

The industry’s assets under management increased by 3.38% in the review period from N13.4 billion as of December 2021.

Meanwhile, 12,336 PFA contributors transferred their RSA accounts from one PFA to another in the period under review. This is 4.2% lower than the 12,874 contributors who switched in the previous quarter. This brings the total number of transferred RSA accounts to 63,728 since Q4 2020.

The RSA fund II accounted for most of the fund contribution with N6.06 trillion, representing 43.6% of the total pension funds.
The RSA Fund III followed with N3.69 trillion, accounting for 26.7% of the total assets. Also, the fund III category increased by N158 billion in the review period.
Existing schemes accounted for 10.2% of the total funds, increasing by N64.56 billion to stand at N1.42 trillion.
Also, the CPFAs accounted for 11.1% of the total funds, standing at N1.54 trillion as of the review period.
In terms of investments, PFAs investment in corporate debt securities increased by N63.78 billion in Q1 2022, from N943.3 billion recorded as of December 2021 to N1.01 trillion as of the end of March 2022.
On the hand, investment in federal government securities declined by 271.56 billion in the first three months of the year to stand at N8.5 trillion. Although the FGN Securities accounts gulp most of the investments by pension fund managers.
Exposure in real estate properties also reduced, albeit marginally. Investment in real estate dropped by N401.3 million to stand at N156.39 billion from N156.8 billion as of the end of the previous year.

Local equities investment jumps by N28.95 billion

Pension fund administrators in the period under review increased their investments in the local equities market, with over N28.95 billion new investments in the market, bringing its total investments in the bourse to N944.26 billion.
The improved interest in the local equities market by the PFAs follows the positive performance of the Nigerian stock market year-to-date.
On the flip side, the PFAs reduced their exposure in the foreign equities as their investments declined by N10.22 billion to stand at N112.27 billion.

The pension administrators have been trying to improve their returns by diversifying their investment portfolios in order to ensure they give value to their numerous contributors, especially with the transfer window still in play which allows contributors to switch PFAs if they are not satisfied with their services.

The Nigerian pension industry continues to grow in value and in adoption, albeit very low compared to other economies. The total number of pension contributors at 9.56 million only represents a pension penetration rate of 14% compared to the over 19% in South Africa and 77% rate for the United Kingdom.