The Nation Newspaper

Tag: contributors

  • Contributors urged to embrace data recapturing

    Contributors under the Contributory Pension Scheme(CPS) have been urged to participate in the ongoing data recapturing by updating their data with their Pension Fund administrators (PFAs), Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) President, Mrs Aderonke Adedeji, has said.

    She spoke at a media parley organised by the association to give an update on the activities and performance of the industry in Lagos.

    She urged the nine million pension contributors in the scheme to embrace the ongoing exercise across the country.

    She explained that the aim of the exercise was to update the data of contributors and address the problem of multiple Personal Identification Numbers(PINs).

    Mrs Adedeji, also the Managing Director/CEO, Leadway Pensure Limited, said the exercise would allow (PFAs) reconcile the information collected with the previous one to enhance the credibility of the new scheme.

    She added that the exercise would protect pension clients against cybercrime as well as other fraudulent intents and activities.

    According to her, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) had, since last year, been upbeat about data recapturing of pension clients while streamlining registration of prospective contributors in a move to have accurate database of contributors.

    Adedeji said: “Retiremet Savings Account holders should go and update their data and not wait for PFAs to come to them before they subject themselves to the exercise. The process has started, PFAs have invested so much into the project and operators are progressively approaching their customers to recapture their data. For now, there is no deadline, since the exercise is just starting, but in future, there could be a deadline, depending on the response of pension contributors toward the exercise.

    “The verification is aimed at ensuring quality data of contributors, which is in tandem with modern ICT trends, to synchronise data base for national groups.

    ‘’The exercise requires RSA holders to provide their NIM numbers to their PFAs and answer some questions that were not provided earlier, by the account holders,” she added.

  • Stanbic IBTC enlightens contributors on Multi Fund structure

    The pension industry multi fund investment structure, which took effect from July 1 dominated discussion at a pre-retirement seminar organised by Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited in Lagos.

    Stanbicibtc IBTC Pension, one of the leading Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) in the country, provided deeper insights into the workings of the scheme.

    Its Chief Executive Officer, Eric Fajemisin, who spoke at the event, said the new structure has replaced the previous “one-size-fits-all” arrangement, which put all active contributors into one Retirement Savings Account (RSA) Fund for purposes of investment.

    He said the new structure would resolve the challenge of asset-liability risk management faced by the operators.

    By aligning the age and risk profile of RSA holders to match the four funds under the scheme, contributors, he noted, would have a better chance to earn improved returns on their investments in proportion to their risk appetites.

    The different categories of the multifunds structure are Fund 1, Fund 2, Fund 3 and Fund 4.

    He explained that Fund I is targeted at people of 49 years and below, who in the quest for higher returns are willing to take more risks.

    Fund 2, he said, is aimed at people, who are aged 49 years and below and still working, but are satisfied with moderate returns and levels of risks, while Fund 3 targets people of 50 years and above, but still working and have very low risk appetite. In Fund 4 are retirees, who have the lowest risk profile of all categories.

     

    He said: “Although an individual may be retired, his or her money should continue to work for the person. As today’s people live much longer and enjoy healthier lives, meaning that the time spent in retirement is much longer, there is the need to plan for a comfortable life in retirement.

    “Planning for retirement, he said, should commence from the first day an individual starts working. This decision may seem disheartening at the onset, but with the help of an experienced pension professional, the process is made easy. As retirement approaches, the individual will not encounter the usual apprehension associated with retirement from work.

     

  • PenOp: contributors’ change of PFAs to happen soon

    •Association gets first woman president

    Lack of biometrics has been hindering the implementation of the transfer window platform that will enable pension contributors and retirees change their Pension Fund Administrator (PFAs), Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) has said.

    This disclosure is coming on the heels of the emergence of the association’s first female President, Mrs. Aderonke Adedeji, at the sixth Annual General Meeting (AGM) of PenOp.

    Mrs Adedeji, who is also the Leadway Pensure Managing Director, spoke during a chat with reporters said she would further drive pension growth during her tenure.

    She assured contributors under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) that the transfer window would soon be opened.

    According to her, the transfer window is a burning issue and the major challenge has been the lack of biometrics, noting, however, that the association is working  with the National Pension Commission (PenCom) to resolve the issues that will enable the takeoff of the transfer window.

    She said: “We are optimistic that it will be resolved very soon. The federal government has issued instructions that everybody should consolidate in terms of identification.

    “So, there is work going on and we have a meeting next week for discussion on biometrics that will set the foundation for us to begin to talk about transfer window. So, I see progress in that area shortly.”

    Section 13 and Section 106 subsection 1 to 4 of the Pension Reform Act 2004 as repealed by PRA 2014, stipulates that a contributor will be allowed to move his or her RSA account from one PFA to another in not more than once in a year.

    “Section 106 stipulates that an employee or beneficiary of a (RSA), who is dissatisfied with a decision of the PFA or employer in respect of pension matters under this Bill, may request, in writing, that such decisions be reviewed by PenCom with a view to ensuring that such decision is made in accordance with the provisions of this Bill or any regulations made,”she said.

    Aside from Mrs Adedeji, other members of PenOp executives are Vice President, Akeeb Akinola (Managing Director, Shell Closed Pension Fund Administrator); Head, Branding Committee, Wale Odutola (Managing Director, ARM Pensions); Head, Legal & Regulatory Committee, Dr. Hamza Sule Wuro Bokki (Managing Director, NPF Pensions); Head, Technical Committee, Dapo Akisanya (Managing Director, AxaMansard Pensions); and Treasurer, Chinedu Ekeocha (Managing Director, Diamond PFC).

     

  • Pension contributors up 1.76 per cent

    Pension contributors up 1.76 per cent

    Contributors under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) rose from 6,581,031 at the end of the first quarter of last year to 6,696,793 in the second quarter, indicating a 1.76 per cent growth in the pension scheme membership.

    In a report, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) said the expansion in the industry membership was driven by the Retirement Savings Account (RSA) Scheme.

    It said the membership of the Closed Pension Fund Administration Scheme (CPFA) experienced a negative growth while membership of the Approved Existing Scheme (AES) remained unchanged.

  • Contributors to own homes soon, says PenCom

    • Inaugurates new zonal office in Lagos

    Are you a contributor or retiree under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) of the Pension Reform Act, 2004, living in the Southwest?

    If your answer is yes, this is good news for you.

    If the plans of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) sails through, contributors under Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) may soon to utilise part of their Retirement Savings Account (RSA) to part-finance the acquisition of low-cost houses in their states.

    Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Southwest Zonal Office of PenCom over the weekend, Acting Director-General, PenCom, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu said the commission is exploring the possibility of allowing contributors to utilise their RSA balances to part-finance the acquisition of low-cost houses as part of ongoing efforts at enhancing contributors’ satisfaction.

    She stated that the commission expects that when they eventually come on stream, these facilities will be made vailable to states that have fully implemented the scheme.

    Meanwhile, PenCom has decentralised the activities of the commission by opening a zonal office in Lagos State to cater for the needs of contributors and retirees in the geo-political zone of Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo states.

    By this action, she said the commission is seeking to reduce the need for contributors and retirees to travel from various parts of the country to Abuja to access the agency’s services.

    According to her, the presence of PenCom in the zone would facilitate closer interaction states’ pension offices by assisting them to comply with the CPS.

    Mrs Anohu-Amazu said the choice of Lagos to host the South-west zonal office stemmed not only from its pre-eminent position as the economic nerve centre of the country but was also justified by its record of being one of the pioneers in implementation of the CPS, having enacted its law in 2007.

    She enjoined stakeholders to avail themselves of the commission’s services by visiting the office to make enquiries, lodge complaints, and seek enlightenment on the CPS noting that the South-West Zonal Office has a mandate to effectively extend services to all the six states of the zone.

    According to her, the commission has also reviewed its Investment Regulations with a view to facilitating the investment of pension funds towards reducing the huge infrastructure gap in the country.

    She said: “Already several states in the federation have so far benefitted from the pool of funds towards reducing the huge infrastructure gap in the country. It is also worthy to mention that several states have also benefitted from the pool of funds generated by the CPS through the issuance of development bonds.

    “The establishment of Zonal Offices in all the six geo-political zones of the country is in a bid to decentralise its activities and bring it closer to the contributors and retirees. This is also due to our renewed focus on efficient service delivery.”

    According to her, the commission remains steadfast in the implementation of the CPS, adding that within the few years of its existence, some modest achievements have been realised.

    “Foremost among such achievements is the consistent payment of retirement benefits to employees who retired under the scheme in 2007 without the characteristic bottlenecks experienced in the past,” she said.

     

  • Pension operators target 20m contributors

    Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) are targeting at least 20 million contributors in the next four years through the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), the President, Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), Dave Udeanu, has said.

    Udeanu said they would leverage on the integration of businesses in the informal sector to increase the number of contributors.

    He told The Nation that the operators are looking forward to boosting the figures from the current 5.5 million to 20 million by 2017.

    He said several additional incentives are being proposed to make the pension scheme more beneficial to persons working in the informal sector that account for over 60 per cent of the working population in the country.

    He disclosed that the National Pension Commission (PenCom) has released the the framework for the participation of persons operating in the informal sector, stressing that the draft is currently being finalised, adding that once the framework is released, it would ensure the participation of persons working in the informal sector and effectively increase the coverage of the scheme.

    PenCom, he said, will incorporate a multi-fund structure for Retirement Saving Accounts (RSA) funds into the amended investment guidelines before the end of the first quarter.

    “The decision to introduce the multi-fund structure in the first quarter of this year, is to allow enough time for public education and sensitisation by the commission and also allow operators enough time to be ready to implement the structure.

    “The multi-fund would be primarily differentiated by their overall exposure to variable income instruments and a contributor’s choice of funds may be limited based on the age of the contributor. Also the multi-fund structure would likely allow for the introduction of a non – interest or ethical fund,” he said.

    On the issue of misappropriation of pension contributions, the PenOp chief said the contributors in the CPS have nothing to worry about the safety of their retirement savings, assuring that the scheme is robust, safe and poised to help the retirees to live peacefully after their active employment years.

    Udeanu said the new pension scheme is a very simple antidote to the complexities of the old scheme and will ease the problems of retired workers going through hell to get their retirement benefits.

    Under the new scheme, fraud and delay in payment of benefits are almost non-existent due to structures and controls put in place for securing the funds and the fact that the accounts are always fully funded, he said.