The total amount of pension funds invested in banks by Pension Fund Administrators rose to N2.05tn at the end of July from N1.48tn in January.
The National Pension Commission disclosed this in its report, titled ‘Unaudited report on pension funds industry portfolio for the period ended 31 July 2021’.
It said total assets under the Contributory Pension Scheme stood at N12.78tn as of the period under review.
The commission said the operators had invested a substantial part of the pension funds in the Federal Government’s bonds, treasury bills, and state government securities.
The PenCom report said some of the funds were invested in agency bonds, supra-national bonds, commercial papers, foreign money market securities, and open/close-end funds.
Other investment portfolios where the operators invested the funds are real estate investment trusts, private equity funds, infrastructure funds, cash, and other assets.
According to Agusto & Co, a pan-African credit rating agency, the Nigerian pension industry’s net assets are expected to hit the N20tn mark by 2023, recording an average growth of 18 per cent in the next three years.
It said in its 2021 insurance industry report that the growth in the pension industry’s managed assets had been largely driven by investment returns and additional contributions, to a lesser extent.
– Punch