BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR— Following their exemption from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), about 11 military personnel have had their pension refunded to the appropriate quarters, the National Pension Commission ( PenCom, has said.
Disclosing this in its 2022 first quarter report posted on its website with the title “update on Refund of Pension Contributions to Military Personnel and Employees of the Security Agencies”, the Commission said, during the quarter under review, it granted approval for the refund of N850,120.34 million to 11 personnel of the Military and other Security Agencies who were exempted from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
On employer code generation, the commission said it generated a total of 3,631 employer codes during the quarter ended
31 March 2022.
It noted that over 85% of employer codes generated were for private sector
companies and about 7% for business name registrations. During the quarter, only three
codes were generated for the Federal Government and Eight employer codes
were generated for State Governments.
The commission further said that the total value of Pension Fund assets as at 31 March 2022 was N13.88 trillion.
“The amount comprised of N9.81 trillion in RSA’ Active’ Funds (RSA Funds I, II, III
and V); N1.10 trillion in RSA Retiree Fund (Fund IV); N1.54 trillion in CPFAs;
N1.42 trillion in Approved Existing Schemes. Fund VI Active and Retiree Fund
amounted to ₦23.16 billion.
“Pension Fund Assets were mainly invested in Federal Government Securities
(FGN), accounting for 61.26% of total assets. The composition of investments in
FGN Securities were as follows: FGN Bonds: 92.20%; Treasury Bills: 3.45%; and
Agency Bonds, Sukuk and Green Bonds accounting for 1.29%.
“The industry Net Asset Value (NAV) at reporting date increased by 3.38%
(₦453.76 billion) to ₦13.88 trillion compared to a NAV of ₦13.42 trillion as at 31
December 2021.
The growth in Q1:2022 according to the commissary was higher than the growth of ₦423.65 billion (3.26%) recorded in Q4:2021. The growth was mainly due to contributions
received and market valuation of FGN bonds as well as quoted equities.
On value of investments in quoted domestic ordinary shares, the commission said “it stood at N944.26 billion (6.80% of total assets under management), indicating an increase of N28.95 billion (3.16%) compared to the N915.31 billion invested in the asset class as at 31 December 2021. The increase in the value of investments in domestic quoted equities was primarily due to the appreciation in the prices of some stocks during the reporting period, as the Nigerian Stock Exchange Pension Index (NSE-PI) further appreciated by 9.95% in Q1:2022.
The value of investments in FGN Securities decreased by N271.62 billion (- 3.10%) to N8.50 trillion as at 31 March 2022 from N8.77 trillion as at 31 December 2021. The decrease in the value of investments in FGN Securities was majorly due to matured investments in the asset classes during the quarter.
