THE National Pension Commission (PenCom), as the regulator of the pension industry, keeps stakeholders of the industry abreast with its activities and happenings in the industry, through annual, quarterly and monthly reports. PenCom has issued its First quarter 2021 Report.
During the period under review, PenCom continued the enhanced Offsite monitoring and analysis of Pension Operators due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A total of 32 Licensed Pension Operators, comprising of 22 PFAs, 4 PFCs and 6 CPFAs rendered returns on funds under management/custody as well as those of the respective companies via the Risk Management & Analysis System (RMAS) for the quarter ended 31 March, 2021.
During the quarter also, the Commission approved the acquisition of AXA Mansard Pensions Limited by Eustacia Limited and the change of name from AXA Mansard Pensions Limited to Tangerine Pensions Limited. In addition, the Commission granted “No Objection” for the merger between Tangerine Pensions Limited and Apt Pension Funds Managers Limited
Following the issuance of demand notices to defaulting employers whose pension liabilities had been established by Recovery Agents (RAs), the sum of N608,554,747.59, representing principal contribution (N162,385,260.05) and penalty (N446,169,487.54), was recovered from 25 defaulting employers during the quarter under review.
The Commission granted approval for refund of N1,595,008.24 to 25 personnel of the military and other security agencies who were exempted from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS). These are contributions made before the exemption.
In line with the powers conferred on the Commission under section 48 of PRA 2014, the Commission continued to monitor the payment of pensions to public service retirees under the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS) through monthly statutory returns rendered by the Pension Transitional Directorate (PTAD). All complaints received from DBS pensioners were forwarded to PTAD for resolution
During the quarter under review, nineteen (19) PFAs registered 3,292 contributors under the Micro Pension Plan (MPP). In the same vein, a total sum of N16,711,942.25 was remitted to the Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) of 435 contributors during the period. In terms of withdrawals from the contingent portion of the contributions, six (6) PFAs processed and approved requests amounting to N4,375,646.34 from seventeen (17) MPP contributors during the period under review. During the same period, one hundred and five (105) Micro Pension Participants converted to the Mandatory CPS and the sum of N963,136.42 was transferred to their respective RSAs
The PFAs registered a total of 84,368 RSAs during the quarter under review. This brought the cumulative RSA registrations from inception to 31 March 2021 to 9,300,058 as at 31 March 2021. The fourth RSA transfer quarter, TQ4:2020, which was the maiden RSA transfer quarter, was concluded in the second week of January 2021, and a total number of 2,799 RSAs were successfully transferred to the RSA holders’ new PFAs. The total value of pension assets belonging to the 2,799 RSAs transferred, stood at N18,898,848,438.79. A total number of 11,507 RSA transfer requests were received between 1 January 2021 and 31 March 2021 signifying an increase of 311.11% when compared with 2,799 RSAs transferred in fourth quarter 2020.
The total pension contributions remitted to the RSAs in the quarter, stood at N203.10 billion. Out of this total, the public sector accounted for N115.83 billion or 57.03%, while the private sector contributed N87.27 billion or 42.97%. The cumulative pension contributions received from both the public and private sectors from inception to the end of the first quarter of 2021, therefore, amounted to N6.91 trillion, up from the N6.70 trillion as at the end of the Fourth quarter 2020
The total value of pension fund assets was N12.34 trillion as at 31 March 2021 comprising of N8.62 trillion for RSA ‘Active’ funds (i.e. RSA funds I, II III and V); N976.90 billion for RSA retiree (Fund IV) N1.46 trillion for CPFAs; and N1.28 trillion for approved existing schemes. Pension fund assets were mainly invested in federal government securities, which accounted for 68.93% of total assets. The composition of investments in federal government securities were distributed as follows: FGN bonds: 62.19%; treasury bills: 5.85%; and agency bonds, sukuk and green bonds accounting for about 0.90%.
The Commission granted approval for 8,947 requests, comprising 4,173 public (FGN & States) and 4,774 private sector retirees to draw pension through the Programmed Withdrawal mode during the quarter under review. These retirees received a total lump sum of N25,160,612,257.42 while their total monthly pension amounted to N371,103,549.16. Approval was also granted to 1,601 retirees under the Retiree Life Annuity during the quarter under review. A total lump sum of N5,436,058,359.02 was approved for payment to the retirees, while the sum of N10,106,528,179.24 was approved for payment to 14 Retiree Life Providers as premium in return for total monthly/quarterly annuities of N98,330,781.49.
During the quarter under review, approvals were granted for payment of death benefits amounting to N10,602,403,915.60 to the legal beneficiaries/administrator of 2,229 deceased employees and retirees. This comprised of 1,505 public (FGN & State) and 724 private sector employees/retirees.
During the quarter under review, the Commission granted approval for enbloc payment of retirement benefits to 3,398 retirees whose RSA balances were N550,000.00 or below and considered insufficient to procure programmed withdrawal or retiree life annuity of a reasonable amount for an expected life span. In this regard, a total sum of N803,027,095.31 was paid to the 3,398 retirees from private sector
The Commission granted approval for the payment of N5,021,361,563.85 to 10,619 RSA holders under the age of 50 years, who were disengaged from work and unable to secure jobs within four months.
During the quarter under review, the department granted approval of withdrawal from voluntary contribution accounts amounting to N1,231,715,792.02 to 757 contributors.
Stakeholders of the CPS are encouraged to go through the full report, which is available on the website of the PenCom.
