The Nation Newspaper

Category: Investors

  • Zenith Insurance grosses N12.5b

    Zenith Insurance grew its top-line by 12 per cent to N12.5 billion last year as it continued to grow its assets base.

    Key extracts of the audited report and accounts of Zenith Insurance for the 2017 business year, which were approved by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) on the 20th of April 2018, showed that gross premium increased by 12 per cent from N11.12 billion in 2016 to N12.5 billion in 2017. Net premium income improved to N8.09 billion in 2017 compared with N7.446 billion in 2016. Fees and commission income rose by 37 per cent from N907 million in 2016 to N1.245 billion in 2017.

    The results showed that net underwriting income also rose from N8.354 billion in 2016 to N9.336 billion. However, profit before tax dropped to N4.750 billion from N5.927 billion in 2016, due to the high claims, increase in management expenses and high taxation expenses. Total claims of N6.7billion were paid out in 2017, representing an increase of 36 per cent from the N4.7 billion paid out in 2016 and a total claims ratio of 58 per cent in 2017. Net assets stood at N23 billion, one of the highest in the Nigerian insurance industry.

    The report indicated a solvency ratio of 634 per cent in 2017, meaning that it is able to cover its minimum regulatory solvency requirement six times over. Return on equity stood at 15.5 per cent.

    Industry analysts believe Zenith Insurance is one of the most dynamic insurance companies in Nigeria with its wide range of corporate, commercial and individual insurance services.

    With total shareholders’ fund of N22.37B and a total asset base of N34.37b, Zenith Insurance is one of the most capitalised companies in the insurance industry and it has the second highest profit after tax in the insurance industry.

    Zenith Insurance was licensed to underwrite all insurance business fire and allied perils insurance; general accident insurance – burglary insurance; money insurance; fidelity; guarantee insurance; group personal accident insurance; employers liability; general third party liability insurance; product liability insurance, industrial all risks insurance: all risk insurance, business interruption insurance and marine insurance, among others.

     

  • NSE prepares for e-IPO

    The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is set to launch the electronic initial public offering (e-IPO) in the capital market.

    As part of the arrangements for the automation of public offering, the NSE held training on modalities for e-IPO and the functionalities at the Exchange that will facilitate the automation.

    Stakeholders in the capital market are working towards the full automation of initial public offerings and other public primary offers in the Nigerian market. Many analysts believed that the much-awaited IPO of MTN Nigeria would  pioneer the new process. MTN Nigeria has reiterated its commitment to float its IPO in the second half of this year.

    The full automation of primary issuance will involve automation of the process, approval, documentation, subscription and allotment of all issues, especially IPOs and public offers. With this, investors will be able to subscribe and make payment for IPOs and public offers online with such orders being matched and allotted electronically and directly to the investment accounts of the investors at the Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS).

    The full automation will enable the primary market to operate within a designated transaction cycle, possibly within the T+3 four-day trading cycle currently being operated at the secondary market.

    Investors will also be able to monitor and change their orders within a designated period while subscribers with personal access to the internet and online stockbroking trading portals can make direct subscriptions from anywhere.

    Not less than four companies have indicated plans to float IPOs. MTN Nigeria had in 2016 appointed the advisory team and set out a roadmap towards listing on the NSE in 2017.

    MTN Nigeria Board had announced the appointment of Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited and its affiliates, Standard Bank of South Africa Limited and Standard Advisory London Limited and Citigroup Global Markets Limited as joint transaction advisors and joint global coordinators for the proposed listing of MTN Nigeria on the NSE. The telco, however, missed the 2017 target.

    Med-View Airlines Plc, which listed its shares by way of introduction on the NSE in January, last year, also plans to launch its an IPO to raise new equity funds to expand its operations and allow more investors to participate in the ownership of the airlines.

    Crown Natures Nigeria Plc, an indigenous manufacturer of various kinds of branded and unbranded textile products that have 90 per cent local content ratio, plans to float an IPO to raise new equity funds to finance its business expansion programme.

     

  • Summit lauds AfDB chief’s investment drive

    The convener of London Africa Summit, Mr. Frederick Apeji, has commended African Development Bank (AfDB) President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, for announcing a new initiative tagged: Africa Investment Forum (AIF) earlier this month in Johannesburg, South Africa.

    Apeji made this commendation in an Online Media Briefing (OMB) with country representatives of the summit in DRC, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

    The yearly London Africa Summit is an international business event that seeks to promote the rapid industrialisation and modernisation of the sub-national entities across Sub-Saharan Africa. The inaugural edition is slated for London, United Kingdom between August 6 and 7.

    According to him, the much awaited transformation of the economies of Sub-Saharan Africa must not be left only to the national governments; but a significant role must be played by the hundreds of provincial governments that make up these countries.

    “We must take a cue from the 50 American states, and begin to open up a wider space for Africa’s provincial governments to unleash their energy to drive continental economic growth,” Apeji said.

    Adesina was in Johannesburg on May 8 to announce South Africa as the host country of the inaugural Africa Investment Forum (AIF) slated for between November 7 and 9.

    AfDB’s African Economic Outlook 2018 indicates that the continent’s infrastructure requirements amount to between $130 and $170 billion a year. To address these challenges, the AfDB is championing the AIF as a platform to actively engage the private sector and to facilitate projects that have the capacity to transform the continent. AIF is designed to enhance private-sector cooperation and drive investment in sectors of strategic interest within Africa.

    Adesina said AIF will provide an open platform to organise efforts among multi-lateral institutions, governments and private sector to improve a pipeline of projects capable of transforming the continent.

    According to him, AIF will harmonise processes among the bank and its partners, reduce intermediation costs, improve quality of project information and documentation, and increase action-oriented engagements between African governments and the private sector.

  • Platform launches trade alert

    NASD OTC Securities Exchange Plc, the over-the-counter platform for trading in unlisted securities, has launched a trade alert notification service that will enable investors to receive transaction alerts on deals consummated on the Exchange. The service will begin on Friday, June 1.

    Investors with portfolios trading under the NASD would receive daily short message service (SMS) notifications at the close of trade. Trade alerts will be sent to an investor’s registered mobile number with the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc.

    Each trade alert will contain investor name, investor account number, trade date, stockbroking house firm code, security traded, units traded, price traded and general market closing price of the security.

    NASD had on April 9, 2018 launched its proprietary trading platform (BITs) to provide authorised traders platform to perform trades more conveniently on behalf of their brokerage clients.

    The management of the NASD stated that the trade alert notification service was part of efforts to further enhance service delivery and client satisfaction, noting that it will continue to conduct regular modifications to improve its system, promote transparency and market integrity.

    “We believe that with this service, investors will get adequate first-hand information from the Exchange on all transactions on their account, which can be confirmed by their chosen participating institution,” NASD stated.

    Inaugurated in July 2013, NASD OTC Securities Exchange is registered by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) as a Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO). The NASD OTC provides the platform for trading of a broad range of instruments over-the-counter, including equities, bonds and securities not listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

    Many leading companies are listed on the NASD OTC including world leaders like Dufil Prima Foods Plc, the manufacturer of Indomie Noodles; Friesland Campina Wamco Nigeria Plc, manufacturer of Peak Milk brand; and Fan Milk Plc, popular manufacturer of Fan Yoghurts are listed.

    Other companies listed on the NASD OTC included NIPCO Plc, Air Liquide Nigeria Plc Industrial & General Insurance Plc, Central Securities Clearing System Plc, the clearing and depository arm of the Nigerian Stock Exchange; Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company, Jaiz Bank Plc, the Islamic bank; Acorn Petroleum Plc, Arm Life Plc, Afriland Properties Plc, BGL Plc, Consolidated Breweries Plc and Food Concepts Plc.

    Others included Geo-Fluids Plc, Golden Capital Plc, Niger Delta Exploration & Production Plc, Partnership Investment Company Plc, Resourcery Plc, Riggs Ventures West Africa Plc, Swap Technologies & Telecomms Plc, Vital Products Plc, Fumman Agric Products Industries Plc, Free Range Farm Plc, FAMAD Plc, AG Mortgage Bank, Trustbond Mortgage Bank Plc and Mass Telecom Innovation (MTI among others. There are also more than 137 registered traders of participating institutions at the market.

     

  • Firm unveils plan for N3b capital, asset sale

    May & Baker Nigeria Plc plans to increase its authorised share capital to N3 billion through the creation of 2.2 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each. The company also plans to sell or lease out one of its properties as part of initiatives to free up capital.

    Shareholders of the healthcare company are expected to pass special resolutions at the annual general meeting tomorrow to mandate the board of directors to increase the authorised share capital from N1.9 billion of 3.8 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to N3 billion of 6.0 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each.

    Shareholders are also expected to authorise the board of the company to sell or lease any of the company’s two properties located at Sapara Street, Ikeja.

    Sources in the know said the increase in the authorised share capital is part of the plan for the pending supplementary share issue by the healthcare company. Shareholders had in 2014 empowered the company to raise N3.2 billion new equity capital.

    Directors of the company said they had delayed the capital raising in order to extract the greatest value for the existing shareholders that had toiled to build the company and to ensure that new equity investments are in line with the strategic vision of future expansion and technical competences.

    May & Baker Nigeria’s head office and manufacturing facility at Sapara Street, Ikeja, had become grossly underutilised after the healthcare company relocated its manufacturing operations to its World Health Organisation (WHO)-standard manufacturing complex in  Ota, Ogun State.

    Its Managing Director, Mr. Nnamdi Okafor, said the company is making the world-class manufacturing facility in Ota, Ogun State, the hub of pharmaceutical manufacturing in West Africa.

    May & Baker Nigeria holds the majority equity stake of 51 per cent while the government holds 49 per cent equity stake in Biovaccines Nigeria Limited, the company set up for the purpose of May and Baker Nigeria-government partnership. local vaccine production is expected to save Nigeria a huge part of more than N10 billion yearly expenditure on vaccine importation, with such savings directly flowing to Biovaccines Nigeria Limited.

  • Clearing house completes conversion of shares, others to electronic deposits

    •CSCS achieves 100% dematerialisation

    All shares and other securities of quoted companies at the capital market have been converted to electronic deposits at the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, ending the era of paper share certificate.

    Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc Managing Director, Mr. Haruna Jalo-Waziri, said the custodial and depository firm had achieved 100 per cent demateriali-sation of securities of all quoted companies.

    He said with the dematerialisation, a unified and comprehensive record of issued shares and full list of companies’ shareholders had been created.

    “As is applicable in other markets, this puts CSCS in the position of bona fide custodian of the golden record of securities and a sub registry for all quoted companies,” Jalo-Waziri said.

    Addressing shareholders at the firm’s annual general meeting in Lagos, Jalo-Waziri assured them of a bright future as the company has developed some 51 initiatives, which will reposition it for optimal service delivery.

    He said the company had shown resilience in 2017 by adapting quickly to changing macro-economic situation in order to ensure it achieved decent financial results for the year.

    According to him, CSCS had a profit before tax budget of N3.86 billion for 2017, but surpassed this target with actual year-end profit before tax of N5.66 billion, a 46.63 per cent favourable variance.

    He attributed the company performance to improving investors’ confidence in the Nigerian capital market with actual earnings from depository, clearing and settlement services constituting 49.63 per cent of the company’s total revenue for the year.

    Shareholders of the company approved the distribution of N3.5 billion as cash dividend for the 2017 business year, representing a dividend per share of 70 kobo. The total payout represents 233 per cent increase on N1.05 billion paid for the 2016 business year.

    CSCS Chairman, Mr. Oscar Onyema, said the company had in order to ensure competitiveness in the capital market and remained the foremost central securities depository (CSD) in Africa, made significant investment in infrastructure by changing its core CSD platform, the Equator; to a more technologically advanced and state-of-the-art CSD platform, the TCS BaNCS, which was successfully deployed in October 2017.

    According to him, despite the economic realities that were not encouraging in the light of plunging oil revenues and sustained shortage of hard currency in the nation’s foreign exchange market, leading to a tough economic experience at the beginning of 2017, CSCS emerged with a strong performance for the year across all metrics.

    He attributed the performance of the company to improved macro-economic condition, improved foreign exchange, sound corporate governance model, focus on implementation of strategic initiatives, skilled workforce and technology.

    Key extracts of the audited report and accounts of CSCS for the year ended December 31, 2017 showed that group gross earnings grew by 41 per cent to N8.7 billion in 2017 as against N6.2 billion in 2016. Profit before tax stood at N5.66 billion in 2017 as against N3.72 billion in 2016. Total assets grew by 18 per cent to N32 billion in 2017 compared with N27 billion in 2016.

    CSCS was incorporated on July 29, 1992 as a financial market infrastructure (FMI) for the Nigerian capital market. It commenced operations on April 14, 1997 and became a public limited liability company on May 16, 2012.

     

  • Seplat’s CEO, two others get N2.19b bonus shares

    The board of directors of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc has awarded ordinary shares of the oil and gas company worth N2.19 billion to the three top management staff of the company as bonus shares.

    The beneficiaries of the N2.19 billion bonus shares include Seplat’s Chief Executive Officer, Austin Avuru; Chief Financial Officer, Roger Brown and Operations Director, Effiong Okon.  The shares were granted on May 2 under the company’s 2014 Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP).

    Avuru received more than 1.25 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each and 138,157 deferred shares. Brown received 760,046 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each and 55,673 deferred shares while Okon received 779,061 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each. With these, Avuru was awarded a total of 1.388 million shares while Brown was granted a total of 815,719 ordinary shares.

    The three top management executives were granted a total of 2.98 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each, valued at N2.19 billion at Seplat’s opening price of N734.70 at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

    Company Secretary, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, Dr Mirian Kene Kachikwu stated that awards will vest on May 2, 2021 being the third anniversary of the award date subject to relative total shareholder return performance condition and reserves growth underpin.

    The company noted that in line with the approach approved by its remuneration committee, the number of ordinary shares to be granted was calculated by dividing the monetary value of the salary multiple relevant for each PDMR by the higher of the average share price over first quarter 2018 or £1. As the average share price over first quarter 2018 was £1.29, the calculation was performed based on the share price.

    Meanwhile, many deferred shares awarded was calculated by reference to Seplat’s closing share price on December 29, 2017 of £1.09.

    Under the Directors’ Remuneration Policy approved by Seplat’s shareholders at its 2015 Annual General Meeting, 25 per cent of the directors’ yearly bonus paid for a financial year is deferred into an award over shares and the shares will normally be released on December 31, 2019 – two years following the end of the performance year in respect of which the award is made, subject to continued employment in line with the LTIP rules and corporate governance best practice.

    “No consideration was paid for the grant of these awards and no consideration is due on the vesting of awards,” Kachikwu stated.

    Last February, the Board of Directors of Seplat awarded 25 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each as bonus shares to its staff under the company’s LTIP.

    The supplementary listing of the 25 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at the NSE increased the company’s total issued and fully paid up shares to 588.445 million ordinary shares.

    Kachikwu stated that the distribution was in exercise of the powers granted to the board of the oil and gas company by the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on June 30, 2014 to implement the initial public offering (IPO) award and other remuneration of the top management and directors as disclosed in the IPO prospectus.

    She stated that the 25 million shares were allotted to Stanbic IBTC Trustees Limited as custodian in furtherance of the company’s LTIP.

    Seplat had also in June 2017 some 11.43 million ordinary shares as bonus shares to its chairman, chief executive officer, executive directors and non executive directors of Seplat.

     

     

     

     

     

  • NSE gives Union Bank, Transcorp, four others more time on shareholding restructuring

    Authorities at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) have granted six companies further extension of the deadline to restructure their share capital in a way to dilute the overconcentration of shares and free more shares for minority shareholders.

    This followed an exclusive report by The Nation a fortnight ago that 13 listed companies had failed NSE’s main listing requirement of free float and were trading below the minimum volume of shares required for retail shareholdings and general public trading on their shares.

    The Nation had reported that 13 companies had free float deficiencies, a major infraction that may adversely affect liquidity and efficient price discovery.

    A regulatory report obtained yesterday showed that six of the 13 companies have been granted extended deadlines to restructure their share capital while seven companies remain in default of the earlier deadlines granted to them.

    The six companies that have received waivers and extended deadlines include Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) Plc, Transcorp Hotels Plc, Infinity Trust Mortgage Plc, Great Nigeria Insurance Plc, E-Tranzact International Plc and AG Leventis (Nigeria) Plc.

    The seven companies in default of the earlier deadline include Capital Hotel Plc, Chellarams Plc, The Tourist Company of Nigeria Plc, Interlinked Technology Plc, Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc, Ekocorp Plc and Champion Breweries.

    The trio of UBN, Transcorp Hotels and Great Nigeria Insurance were given extended deadline of May 18, 2020 while AG Leventis, E-Tranzact International and Infinity Trust Mortgage were given up till October 19, 2020, May 17, 2019 and May 17, 2021 respectively.

    A source in the know of the approval process said the extension of the deadline was sequel to applications by the directors of the affected companies, seeking waiver and further extension of the timeline for the dilution of the share structure.

    The source said the companies had cited prevailing market conditions and corporate procedures for their inabilities to meet the previous deadlines.

    Free float, otherwise known as public float, refers to the number of shares of a quoted company held by ordinary shareholders other than those directly or indirectly held by its parent, subsidiary or associate companies or any subsidiaries or associates of its parent company; its directors who are holding office as directors of the entity and their close family members and any single individual or institutional shareholder holding a statutorily significant stake, which is 5.0 per cent and above in Nigeria.

    Thus, free float’s shares do not include shares held directly or indirectly by any officer, director, controlling shareholder or other concentrated, affiliated or family holdings.

    Stock markets maintain minimum public float to prevent undue concentration of securities in the hands of the core investors and related interests, a situation that can make the stock to be susceptible to price manipulation. Besides, it provides the general investing public with opportunity to reasonably partake in the wealth creation by private enterprises.

    Companies listed on the Exchange are required to maintain a minimum free float for the set standards under which they are listed in order to ensure that there is an orderly and liquid market in their securities. The free float requirement for companies on the main board is 20 per cent of market capitalisation while companies on the premium board are required to have free float of 20 per cent or above N40 billion on the date the Exchange receives the company’s application to list. Companies on the third tier board, otherwise known as Alternative Securities Market (ASEM) are required to have 15 per cent free float.

    According to the report, Union Bank of Nigeria has a free float of 14.94 per cent; Capital Hotel, 2.62 per cent; Great Nigerian Insurance, 16.0 per cent; Chellarams, 15.0 per cent; AG Leventis, 11.64 per cent; Interlinked Technology, 14.50 per cent; Infinity Trust Mortgage, 3.50 per cent; Transcorp Hotels, 6.0 per cent; Ekocorp, 11.84 per cent; Champion Breweries, 17.30 per cent; Caverton Offshore Support Group, 17.40 per cent; The Tourist Company of Nigeria Plc, 3.58 per cent and E-Tranzact International Plc, which has a free float of 10.06 per cent.

    Failure by the companies to restructure their share capital at the expiration of the deadline or secure extension of the deadline may lead to delisting of their shares from the NSE. Free float deadline is usually in deference to application by the management of a company for some period to comply with the free float. However, the company is required to provide quarterly disclosure report to the NSE on the efforts being made to fully comply by the deadline.

    By the expiration of the deadline, a company is mandatorily required to have completed partial divestments or dilution of the ‘non-public’ shareholdings to free  the required percentage of equity stake for public holding, unless the management of the NSE grants fresh waivers and extensions for the companies. In the extreme instance, a company with deficient public float may opt to delist its shares.

  • Share reconstruction: Prestige Assurance gets two-week suspension

    Firm to cancel 1.6b shares

    Prestige Assurance Plc will today be placed on a two-week full suspension during which there will be no trading on the shares of the company.

    The suspension is to allow the  company to mark out register and conclude its ongoing share reconstruction.

    Prestige Assurance Company Secretary, Abayomi Odulana, said the Registrars to the company was unable to conclude the updating of the company’s register of shareholders during the period earlier scheduled for the exercise. The company had been placed on full suspension in March to mark out register and conclude the share reconstruction.

    Odulana said during the suspension ending June 6, the Registrars would adjust the shareholdings of members to reflect the terms of the share reconstruction and update their registers with the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS).

    Trading will resume on the shares of the company after the conclusion of the share reconstruction.

    Odulana assured that the share reconstruction would be concluded within the two-week period.

    Prestige Assurance is expected to cancel about 1.6 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each under a capital restructuring programme aimed at removing bubble assets.

    Under the share reconstruction, Prestige Assurance will reduce its share capital from N2.685 billion or 5.370 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to N1.909 billion or 3.817 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each in the issued and fully paid up ordinary shares of the company.

    This will lead to a reduction of N776 million or 1.55 billion ordinary shares. “The share capital so reduced will be applied in writing off the capital of the company which is lost or unrepresented by available assets,” according to a regulatory filing on the reconstruction.

    Prestige Assurance stated that the essence of the capital reconstruction was to enable it wipe out its accumulated retained losses of N776.511 million.

    The company noted that the reconstruction would reposition it on a trajectory for subsequent accumulated retained profit while creating more value to its shareholders.

    Besides, the reconstruction would allow the company to declare dividend and improve its perception in the market thereby making it more competitive.

    Shareholders of the insurance company had on Friday, August 18, 2017 at its 47th annual general meeting (AGM) in Lagos approved the share reconstruction and authorised the board of directors to take necessary actions to implement the share reduction.

    Established in 1952 as a branch office of The New India Assurance Company Limited, Mumbai, Prestige Assurance was incorporated as a limited liability company on January 6, 1970 and licensed to write all classes of non-life insurance in Nigeria. In order to reflect the majority shareholding of the public in the company, its name was changed to Prestige Assurance Plc on September 24,1992 in line with the indigenisation decree passed by government of Nigeria.

    After successful recapitalisation in 2007 and subsequent rights issue in 2015, Prestige Assurance is a subsidiary company of The New India Assurance Company Ltd, Mumbai, which has majority equity stake of 69.5 per cent shareholding.

     

  • Mutual funds’ net assets hit N551.7b

    The net value of all registered mutual funds in Nigeria has risen to N551.7 billion, according to latest data provided by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This represented significant increase of some 400 per cent over the past five years.

    Latest statistical report on net asset values (NAV) of mutual funds by SEC obtained by The Nation showed that Nigeria’s 74 registered mutual funds have total net asset value (NAV) of N551.7 billion by the close of business on April 20, 2018. Total net asset value of all mutual funds had stood at N87.27 billion by July 27, 2012.

    Mutual funds, otherwise known as collective investment schemes, are joint investment vehicles through which investors can pool funds and invest in chosen basket of securities with a view to optimise returns and reduce risks.

    Net asset value is determined by subtracting total liabilities of a fund from its total assets. The net asset value can further be divided by the total number of units of the fund to determine the unit price.

    A mutual fund is usually categorised by the class of assets that forms the primary focus of its investments. Thus, there are equity funds, money market funds, bond funds, real estate funds, ethical funds and balanced funds, among others.

    The latest report showed a major paradigm shift in the historical preference for mutual funds with money market funds overtaking equity-based funds as largest investment segment.

    According to the report, money market funds, which invest mainly in money market instruments such as treasury bills, account for about 74.2 per cent of the total net asset value with N409.25 billion. Real estate funds accounted for N45.87 billion, representing 8.31 per cent of the total net asset value. Fixed income funds’ NAV stood at N N37.55 billion, accounting for 6.80 per cent of the total NAV.

    Further breakdown showed that investors’ values in mixed or balanced funds- mutual funds that seek to invest in a balanced mixture of equity and debt instruments, totaled N28.32 billion, representing 5.13 per cent of the total NAV.

    Equity-based funds, which hitherto dominated as the largest and most populous investment schemes, accounted for N15 billion, about 2.72 per cent of the total net asset value of mutual funds. Bonds funds recorded net asset value of N9.99 billion, representing 1.81 per cent of the total NAV while ethical funds-which invest based on religious and social values, accounted for 1.04 per cent of the total NAV with a net value of N5.73 per cent.

    Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited (SIAML) remains the largest investment management firm in Nigeria with its funds dominating major segments of the market. Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund is the largest CIS with NAV of N215.12 billion, representing 52.56 per cent of the NAV for its segment.

    Also, Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund is the largest equity-based fund with NAV of N7.27 billion or 48.5 per cent of the NAV for its segment. Stanbic IBTC Absolute Fund (Sub Fund) is the largest fixed income funds with NAV of N11.8 billion or 31.4 per cent of the segment NAV.

    FBN Fixed Income Fund is, however, the largest bond fund with NAV of N5.3 billion, representing 53 per cent of the segment.

    About five per cent of investors in the Nigerian capital market engage in mutual funds, a paltry fraction that underlines the tendency of most retail investors to invest in the market directly.