Nigeria’s total pension fund assets has risen to a record highest of N13.61 trillion as of January 2022, growing by 1.4% compared to N13.42 trillion recorded as of the previous month. This represents an increase of N183.8 billion in the review month.
This is contained in the unaudited report on the pension funds industry portfolio for the month of January 2022.
According to the report, Nigeria’s pension fund asset rose to its highest level In January as Nigeria’s pension adoption continues to improve. Specifically, the total number of RSA registration increased to 9.55 million, representing 13.7% of the total labour force population.
The improvement recorded in the month of January is 9.2% higher than the N168.29 billion appreciation recorded in the previous month, indicating improved activities in the sector.
Breakdown
- The RSA fund II accounted for most of the fund contribution with N5.96 trillion, representing 43.8% of the total pension funds.
- The RSA Fund III followed with N3.6 trillion, accounting for 26.5% of the total assets. Also, the fund III category increased by N69.58 billion in the review month.
- Meanwhile, investment in corporate debt securities increased by 5.69% month-on-month to N997.03 billion as of the end of January 2022, representing an improvement of N53.69 billion compared to N943.34 billion recorded as of the previous month.
- In the same vein, investment in local money securities increased by N259.24 billion in the review period to stand at N2.28 trillion.
In terms of real estate investment, PFAs’ investment increased marginally by N1.05 billion in January 2022 to stand at N157.84 billion from N156.8 billion recorded as of December 2021.
PFAs increased investment in local equities market
Pension fund administrators in the period under review increased their investments in the local equities market, with over N960.42 billion investments in the bourse, which is N45.12 billion higher compared to N915.31 billion recorded as of the previous month.
Their improved investment in the local bourse follows the positive performance of the market as the All-Share index gained 9.15% in January 2022 to close at 46,624.67 points while the market capitalization gained to N25.1 trillion.
On the flip side, the PFAs reduced their exposure in the foreign equities market as their investments declined by N12.01 billion to stand at N110.48 billion. This is 9.81% lower than the N122.49 billion recorded as of the end of December 2022.
Backstory
Recall that Nairametrics had reported that the Nigerian Pension industry recorded a milestone in 2021 as the total fund asset under management gained a sum of N1.12 trillion in the year to hit a then-record high of N13.42 trillion.
The report also highlighted that the pension penetration rate in Nigeria rose to 14% after PFAs registered 313,339 new contributors in the previous year. Meanwhile, in January of the new year alone, the industry has achieved 7.46% of the total new RSA contributors it recorded in the previous year.
