The non-availability of foreign index bond is impeding desired growth of the pension fund assets, the Acting Director-General, National Pension Commission (PenCom), Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar has said.

The Acting DG who was represented by the Head, Corporate Strategy and Research Department, Dr. Farouk Aminu spoke at the just concluded Insurance and Pension 2018 Conference held in Lagos said the fund has grown to over N8.2 trillion.

He believes that pension fund would have overshoot if there were better instruments in the country to invest the fund.

He said out of about 200 companies listed at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), only 60 qualify for pension fund investment.

He stated that the Commission is not able to allow investment of the fund at the capital market, noting that their hands are tied.

He called for the enlistment of blue chip firms including Chevron, Mobile, Shell, MTN Nigeria, Glo among others at capital market to allow foreign index bond to be available in the country.

He said the Commission is concerned that if there are better instruments, the return on investment to the fund owned by contributors and retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) will be more.

He said: “If there were better instruments, I believe the pension asset would have overshoot. The return on investment of pension fund was 16 per cent and inflation was above 15 per cent. Unfortunately, this is the reflection of the entire financial system in the country. If you look at the NSE, there are just 200 companies listed in the exchange and if we have to go by our stringent regulation, only about 60 of them qualify for pension fund investment. So the money is big when compared with the companies that are qualified to access it.

“Also, we are yet to have an index bond in the country, whether regulatory index or any other index bond. The Commission has been pushing for such bonds to be issued in the market so that the pension asset can be invested on such instruments. Unfortunately, we don’t have that yet. Yes, we have 70 per cent of the fund invested in Federal Government Securities but this is nothing. This is because we have only seen 16 per cent return on the FG securities and up to 18 per cent in 2016.

“Recently, there is the push for the fund to go into the telecom industry but unfortunately, we are unable to do so. If there are companies like MTN, Glo among others listed at the capital market, then we would have been able to invest in these kinds of companies. Unfortunately, that is a reality in the country and I hope that we would have better instruments.”

He cited an instance where former President of South African, late Nelson Mandela in a black empowerment mission took a decision that pushed foreign companies sell their shares to black citizens, noting that this can be done in Nigeria to make the blue chip companies list their shares at the capital market.

He observed that aside from MTN that is not listed, Glo is also not listed on the capital market.

“If these companies can list at the capital market, it will give opportunities for Nigerians to invest in the companies. Sectors like banking, insurance, pension will also benefit from such development”, he added.

One of the major achievements of the Pension Reform is the establishment of robust legal and institutional frameworks for the administration of pensions in Nigeria.

The reform has instituted transparent processes in the operations of the National Pension Commission (the Commission) and the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) in the retirement benefits payment process, enforcement of compliance with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014 as well as other operations of the industry.

Consistent with the above, the public is hereby invited to note that payment of retirement benefits under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) is made by the PFAs strictly from the Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) of pension contributors.

The RSA has three (3) basic components, namely, the monthly pension contributions; the returns on investment earned for the contributors by the PFAs; and the retirement benefits that accrued under the defunct Defined Benefits Scheme.
Section 7 of the Pension Reform Act 2014 and the Regulations on the Administration of Retirement & Terminal Benefits demand that the three (3) components of the retirement benefit must be consolidated in the RSA before any payment is made by the PFA.

Accordingly, payments of retirement benefits are made promptly into the bank accounts of the retirees except for cases where the employer delays in the release of funds to pay the accrued rights component of the retiree’s benefits.

In the performance of its statutory mandate, the Commission issues Compliance Certificate to organisations wishing to bid for contracts with Federal Government institutions, pursuant to the requirement of the Public Procurement Act 2007.

Furthermore, as it is the case with all institutions, the Commission engages vendors and services providers from time to time. In addition to the legal safeguards and institutional checks and balances of the CPS, the Commission, as the regulator of all pension matters in Nigeria, has entrenched good corporate governance practices, high ethical standards and zero tolerance to any form of malpractice in the conduct of its staff and the PFAs that manage the pension assets.

In this regard, the Management and staff of the Commission do not receive money or other forms of gratification to facilitate payment of retirement benefits, issuance of Compliance Certificates and engagement of vendors and service providers.

The Commission does not also give/accept kickbacks to/from any individual or organisation in the discharge its responsibilities.

The members of the public, particularly pensioners and pension contributors are, therefore, reminded that no financial or other form of inducement should be given to anybody to facilitate payment of retirement benefits, issuance of Compliance Certificate or engagement as vendor or service provider. Indeed, members of the public are earnestly requested to immediately inform the Commission, anyone who makes any demand for any form of inducement in whatever form or disguise.
The Commission remains totally dedicated to the safeguard of your rights and payment of your retirement benefits as and when due.

L-R: Mr. Lana Loyinmi, Head Contribution & Bond Redemption, National Pension Commission; Mr. George Onekhena, Deputy Commissioner, Finance and Administration, NAICOM; Mrs. Yetunde Ilori, Director General, Nigeria Insurers Association; Alhaji Bala Zakariya’u, past president, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria and Chairman of occasion, and Mr Adebayo Adeleke, Managing Director, Lancelot Ventures Ltd, during the  3rd Annual National Conference of the National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO) on The Role of Stakeholders in Developing Insurance and Pension Sectors held in Lagos.

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has called on Nigerians to build up a solid financial plan for future through life insurance planning.
Adeosun made this known at the third National Conference of the National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO) held in Lagos. This year’s conference has the theme “The Role of Stake Holders in Developing Insurance & Pension Sectors.”
The Minister, represented by the Deputy Commissioner for Insurance, Finance and Admin, George Onekhena said life insurance holds the key to wise financial planning and is panacea for poverty alleviation among Nigerians at all levels including grassroot dwellers.
She urged Nigerians not to neglect life insurance, even as it is a common habit, noting that this is equal to building one’s foundation on a shallow ground. She also urged Nigerians to make enquiries on the particular life insurance they want to buy as well as how to go about it.
She also said that those in doubt could engage the service of
insurance brokers, adding that this has become necessary because nobody knows the day of his death and it will be disastrous for anyone to leave dependents without benefits.
Speaking on the challenge facing insurance and pension operators in Nigeria, she said people hardly tell the public when they get benefit from these two sectors, citing the instance of quantum of retirement benefits paid on monthly basis by Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to retirees and also the magnitude of claims paid every year by insurance firms in the country.
The annual NAIPCO conference has grown to become the premier forum that brings pension and insurance operators, regulators and stakeholders together to discuss the state of both sectors and the way forward.

Linkage Assurance Plc has secured the approval of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to underwrite agric insurance in the Nigerian insurance industry.

The ‘no objection’ nod will enable Linkage support the farmers and service providers in the agricultural value chain for greater sustainability and economic growth.

Among the products approved include Linkage Assurance Crop Insurance Solutions; Linkage Assurance Farm All Risk lnsurance; Linkage Assurance Farm Motor lnsurance and Linkage Assurance Livestock lnsurance solutions.

Linkage Assurance Management in a statement made available to journalist said the Nigeria’s agribusiness sector needs insurance to remain sustainable and achieve long term growth expectation.

Linkage said stakeholders in the agricultural value chain needs to embrace insurance by reducing retained risk and transferring the burden to insurers for effective risk management.

With this approval, Linkage Assurance Plc is now well positioned to broaden its product offerings to consumers, which is in line with the federal government objective to deepen insurance penetration in Nigeria.

Linkage Assurance by this development is strategically accelerating its business objective of building a dominant company in the Nigerian insurance industry.

Linkage Assurance Crop Insurance Solutions provides cover against unavoidable loss of crops or resulting directly from the insured perils, example flood, drought, excessive rains, hailstorm, diseases and pest, with covers including Weather lndex Crop Insurance; Area Yield – lndex Crop lnsurance and Multi-peril crop insurance.

The Linkage Assurance Farm All Risk lnsurance is designed to cover the farm buildings/contents, farm products and machineries against theft and fire. It also provides cover on general accident for farm staff and farmer’s legal liability.

While, Linkage Assurance Farm Motor lnsurance protects the insured for loss of or damage to vehicles used in the farm or agricultural business, damage to Third Party property including bodily injury and death to third parties caused by accident.

Linkage Assurance Livestock lnsurance solutions is specially designed to cover the farmer’s stock with one simple policy, which can provide immediate protection against death due to accident; death due to illness or disease; loss of use due to accident; and loss of use due to illness.

Stakeholders in the nation’s insurance and pension industry will on Thursday in Lagos discuss critical issues that will enable both sectors achieve their potential in the countries financial services market.

Leading the discussion will be the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun at the third Edition of the National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO) Annual Conference billed to hold on Thursday, 9^th August 2018, at Oriental Hotels, Victoria Island, with the theme “The Role of Stakeholders in Developing Insurance and Pension Sectors.”

The event to be chaired by Alhaji Bala Zakariya’u, past president, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) will have as special dignitary, the Acting Director General of the National Pension Commission, Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar.

The NAIPCO event also brings together, consumers and other stakeholders of the two industries to discuss issues, challenges and the way forward for economic growth and prosperity.

Sub-themes for deliberation at the conference include, ‘Making Insurance Attractive to Nigerians; Exploring the Micro Pension Concept and Creating Pension & Insurance Awareness; Increasing Insurance Contribution to GDP; as well as the Role of the Media.

A statement from NAIPCO, says the event will provide journalists veritable opportunity to get feedback from the two industries as regards the roles of the ‘fourth estate of the realm’ in developing the sectors. The theme and the sub-themes have been carefully selected to reflect the current industry trends, with erudite speakers from both sectors and the academia also carefully selected, NAIPCO said in a statement issued weekend.