The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has reported a 3.64 percent growth in the nation’s pension fund assets in the second quarter of this year.
Specifically, the commission in its latest report on the pension assets trend on quarterly basis, stated that the total value of pension fund assets based on unaudited valuation reports grew from N7.94 trillion as at March 31 to N8.23 trillion as at the end of June this year.
However, when compared with its growth rate of 5.70 percent in Q1, 2018, the assets indicated a decreased growth rate of 2.06 percent.
According to the report, when analysed based on investments by scheme type the assets showed that in the quarter under review (Q2), the Retirement Savings Account (RSA) active fund recorded the largest portfolio of N5.57 trillion or 67.69 percent of the total assets under management
The PenCom reported further that the Closed Pension Fund Administrators (CPFA’s) and Approved Existing Scheme (AES’s) assets stood at N1.09 trillion and N947.92 billion, accounting for 13.20 percent and 11.51 percent of the total assets under management respectively.
In addition, as at the end of the quarter in review, the RSA Retiree Fund grossed N625.27 billion representing 7.60 per cent of the total assets.
The report reflected further that an analysis of the pension assets based on the pension industry portfolio indicated that the pension fund assets were mainly invested in Federal Government securities, with allocation of 70.75 percent of total pension assets under management. This was higher marginally than the 70.39 percent recorded in Q1.
A further analysis of the assets indicated that while 49.08 percent of the total fund was invested in FGN Bonds, 20.76 percent was invested in Treasury Bills, 0.10 percent in Agency Bonds, 0.71 per cent in Sukuk Bonds and 0.09 per cent in Green Bonds.
The PenCom reported that the increase in the value of bonds was partly due to new investments and accrued coupons.
