The Nation Newspaper

Tag: registered

  • Over 13,000 agents not registered, says NAICOM

    About 70 per cent of insurance companies do not register their agents with the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), The Nation has learnt.

    Investigation revealed that out of about 15,000 agents working for insurance firms, only 1,900 are registered. It was learnt that the agents were not registered because the insurance companies want to avert expenses charged by NAICOM on agents.

    A consultant with the National Insurance Commission, Yemi Soladoye, said only 30 per cent of insurance companies have registered their sales agents. He noted that the operators do so because they want their agents to perform before they can start paying huge fees on them. He urged insurers and brokers to train agents to deepen insurance penetration.

    He said: “The fact is that even the brokers need agents. I have been to a country where a broker has 3,000 agents. In Kenya, there is a bankassuarnce agreement between two brokers and two banks. What the brokers did was to appoint agents that sell insurance to customers of the bank. Agents can only sell a particular product of a particular underwriter, but a broker sells products of all underwriters.”

    Observers said agents are crucial link between the public and the insurer. Therefore, if they are well- trained, they could effectively play the role of an efficient intermediary between the insurer and insured in insurance transactions.

    He said unlike the insurance broker who is the agent of the insured, the insurance agent is the agent of the insurer who appoints him.

  • Only 5.4m workers are registered for pension, says Ahmad

    With a workforce of 40million, only 5.4 million and registered under the National Pension Scheme, former Director-General of the National Pension Commission (NPC) Mohammed Ahmad has said.

    He said there were to pension assets stand at about N3 trillion.

    The commission, he said, was working to ensure that small employers in the private sector embraced the scheme, adding that getting such employers, inadequate education and enlightenment remained a great challenge to the industry’s growth.

    He noted that to encourage more people to embrace the scheme, the commission hopes to introduce customers service index, which would ensure that customers get better services from PenCom and operators.

    Ahmad said the commission has continued with its regulatory and supervisory philosophy, which is risk-based and consultative, adding that investment regulation that would allow multiple fund is being reviewed.

    He said the Retirement Savings Account (RSA) transfer clearing system application that would be used to coordinate the processes relating to the transfer of retirement savings accounts is being developed and tested to ensure that it meets the capacity and robustness required.

    “As part of the implementation of the opening the transfer window, the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs), who are key stakeholders on the pensions industry, would participate in the various workshops geared towards ensuring their full understanding and participation in the transfer process, before the window opens.

    Ahmad noted that the commission would collaborate with state governments in the scheme in the states.