Despite being one of the fastest-growing sectors in the Nigerian financial services industry, the Nigerian pension industry has been affected by various risks, such as the volatility in the foreign exchange and other factors.

However, these risks have harsh consequences on the retirement income of contributors. For example, in Nigeria, whilst the pension assets in the last decade have grown by 21% annually, the growth in the value of assets when converted to USD, has been about 11% over the same period. 

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This is according to a recent report released on Pension Sector Forum by ARM Pension, with the theme “Pension Assets Risk Management in the Face of Uncertainties” 

All other things being equal, the findings revealed that the Defined Contribution Pension scheme assets on a 10- year time frame, grew faster than Defined Benefits (CAGR 8.4% pa vs 4.8% pa). Increased member coverage and higher contributions were probable factors responsible for the growth.  In addition, most retirees might not have enough funds to maintain a decent standard of living, as retirement risk has been transferred to them. 

Other risks outlined in the summit include; interest rate risk, political risk, operation risk, and key macroeconomic risks such as unemployment, GDP, inflation, currency among others. 

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With regards to who bears the retirement risk, 68% of the risk is borne from one’s sources, while 38% is from outside sources. 

The report also stated that the total pension contributions received in the industry from 2017- 2019, was almost equally split between the private and public sectors at the end of Q3 2019.  

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Way Forward 

In mitigating the risks inherent in the Nigerian pension industry, experts at the summit called for increased collaboration among stakeholders, engagement with all regulators, increased advocacy for corporate governance, increased awareness, and sensitization of contributors by stakeholders among others as viable options going forward. 

Key Highlights  

• As of June 2020, only 11.3% of the Nigerian labour force had opened retirement savings accounts (RSAs), while pension assets stand at less than 10% of GDP. 
• The total number of funds under management currently stands at N11.1 trillion. 
• There are currently over 9.04 million subscribers and 32 operators. 

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To view the report, click to download HERE

Crude oil prices printed their third weekly loss in four at the end of its most recent trading session.

Oil traders are concerned about the blurred demand outlook in the short term, as an unexpected build in oil production coupled with additional oil supplies Libya, rattled the nerves of oil traders.

What we know; West Texas Intermediate futures, the key gauge used to determine U.S. oil prices, settled at $40.04 per barrel. For the week, West Texas Intermediate lost 2.1%.

Brent crude, the world’s benchmark for crude oil prices, settled at $41.92 for the week, Brent lost 3%.

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The most recent OPEC+ meeting failed to reassure traders about oil-producing members, complying with production cuts till the end of 2020.

Also reports from Libya in the past week revealed it expected to raise production by around 260,000 barrels per day, by next week, up from some 100,000.

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Stephen Innes, Chief Global Market Strategist at AxiCorp, in a note to Nairametrics spoke on supply-side fundamentals of crude oil by saying,

“Again, it been another week where traders have been inundated with dreary demand news, but it was supply-side fundamentals that supported crude oil again this week.

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“Prices have been backed with the Department of Energy (DOE) inventory stats showing a crude draw and the same a significant drop in gasoline stocks.

“Supply is far less of a problem to the view than demand. Robust compliance from OPEC+ on cuts and limited upside for US production should keep supply below demand in for the foreseeable future and help global inventories move in the right direction.”

KuCoin Global CEO, Johnny Lyu in a statement disclosed yesterday about a reported hack lately in details after private keys linked to crypto wallets got exposed and might have affected $150 million in user funds.

He added by saying the findings of the internal security audit report, revealed part of  Bitcoin, ERC-20, and other tokens in KuCoin’s hot wallets were transferred out of the crypto exchange, which contained few parts of the total assets holdings.

“The assets in the cold wallets are safe and unharmed, and the hot wallets have been re-deployed.”

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However, Cryptoquant an On-chain data/chart provider for investors had a shred of strong evidence showing the crypto exchange might truly be affected.

“It seems Kucoin got hacked.

“Usually, after being hacked, the $BTC outflow increases rapidly and then becomes zero. Since 20:00 UTC on September 25th, the outflow has continuously been zero,” Cryptoquant tweeted.

It seems #Kucoin got hacked.

Usually, after being hacked, the $BTC outflow increases rapidly and then becomes zero. Since 20:00 UTC on September 25th, the outflow has continuously been zero.

Chart: https://t.co/kHsUEzh92C pic.twitter.com/qgycevVsnT

— CryptoQuant (@cryptoquant_com) September 26, 2020

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According to Paolo Ardoino, the Chief Technical Officer at Bitfinex and Tether, the two entities froze $33 million in total.

If the sum of $150 million was hacked, that represents 22% of the lost funds. He said:

“Bitfinex froze 13m Tether USDT on EOS as part of the hack, Tether just froze 20M Tether USDt sitting on this Ethereum address as a precautionary measure.

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PSA: re #KuCoin hack@bitfinex froze 13M Tether USDt on EOS as part of the hack@Tether_to just froze 20M Tether USDt sitting on this Ethereum address https://t.co/GYmESH44da as precautionary measure.

Stay safe everyone!

— Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) September 26, 2020

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In the official statement, Lyu said KuCoin disclosed it was partnering with major crypto exchanges that included Binance, BitMax OKEx, Huobi, and ByBit. The Kucoin also added it was cooperating with law enforcement agencies on the matter.

At least in the near term, it would make it challenging for hackers to try to move the funds. The CEO said:

“We are in contact with many major crypto exchanges such as Huobi, Binance, OKEx, BitMax, and Bybit, as well as blockchain projects, security agencies, and law enforcement to work on this. Some effective measures have been taken, and we will update with more details soon.”