Nigeria’s pension fund industry posted a marginal gain in August 2025, reflecting cautious optimism as fund managers rebalanced portfolios amid mixed market signals.
According to the National Pension Commission (PenCom), total pension assets under management (AUM) rose to N25.90 trillion in August 2025 from N25.80 trillion in July by N97.88 billion.
The 0.38% month-on-month growth, though modest, highlights the resilience of the industry despite volatility across key asset classes.
Asset allocation trends
Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) securities retained their dominance, accounting for 61.11% of total pension assets. Holdings in this category climbed by N178.94 billion (1.14%) to N15.82 trillion in August, driven by:
- FGN Bonds (HTM): up 3.50% to N13.28 trillion (51.30% of total assets)
- Treasury Bills: posted a modest uptick of 0.81%.
- Agency Bonds (NMRC & FMBN): increased by 4.01%
- Green Bonds: surged notably by 17.89% (largest percentage gain)
However, Sukuk Bonds saw a sharp decline of 61.51%, suggesting significant maturities or reallocation of pension managers’ portfolios.
The equities segment posted mixed results:
- Domestic Ordinary Shares: fell 4.40% (N165.99 billion) to N3.61 trillion, contributing 13.93% of total assets. This highlights bearish sentiment in Nigeria’s stock market.
- Foreign Ordinary Shares: gained 2.27%, reflecting cautious diversification into offshore markets.
This divergence highlights pension fund managers’ defensive stance on local equities amid macroeconomic uncertainties.
Corporate debt securities dipped 0.44% to N2.23 trillion (8.63% of assets).
- Corporate bonds (AFS): posted slight growth at 1.89%
- Corporate Bonds (HTM): recorded a 1.64% decline
- Corporate Infrastructure Bonds: decline of 0.16%.
Money market instruments, making up 9.29% of assets, grew by 1.91% to N2.41 trillion. The uptick was driven by:
- Commercial papers: rose by 8.40%
- Foreign money market instruments: increased impressively by 12.44%.
This reflects a stronger appetite for short-term liquidity and capital preservation strategies.
Meanwhile, mutual funds rose 10% to N226.49 billion, with open/close-end funds surging 35.60%, marking the strongest growth across asset categories.
By contrast, REITs declined 18.51%, attributable to sector headwinds and valuation pressures.
Private equity and infrastructure funds posted healthy gains of 22.31% and 3.14% respectively, while cash and other assets fell 9.04%.
Fund-by-fund breakdown
- Fund II (42.11% of assets): inched up 0.02%, from N10.902 trillion to N10.905 trillion
- Fund III (25.82% of assets): rose 0.86% to N6.69 trillion
- Fund IV: up 1.18% to N1.89 trillion (accounting for 7.31%)
- Fund VI: grew 8.35% to N181.23 billion
RSA membership also expanded by 0.44%, from 10,834,769 in July to 10,882,661 in August 2025.
Pension fund year-on-year growth
On a yearly basis, pension assets jumped 22.52%, rising from N21.13 trillion in August 2024 to N25.90 trillion in August 2025. This translates to an increase of N3.38 trillion in just 12 months, largely supported by higher contributions and revaluation of existing holdings.
FGN securities remain the bedrock of the industry, expanding from N14.31 trillion in January 2025 to N15.82 trillion in August 2025 alone.
