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Tag: Trustfund

  • Trustfund prepares retirees for life after retirement

    Trustfund Pensions Limited has embarked on an enlightenement campaign on life after retirement for its retirees.

    The Pension Fund Administartor (PFA) hosted the retirees last week, beginning with those resident in Lagos State.

    Its Regional Manager, Obiora Okoekwem, said the Pre-Retirement and Retiree Forum was aimed at  bridging the gap between them the PFA, adding that the PFA organises the forum yearly to acqaint  retirees with developments in the pension industry as it affects them.

    He assured that the company will be socially responsible and continue to protect their investment.

    He said: “We are interested in the welfare of our retirees. We organise health walk annually for retirees and Corporate Social Responsibility activities such as essay competitions for children of eligible customers including retirees and winners are entitled to sums equivalent of tuition fees.

    “Retirees under this Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) are enlightened by expert on the business lines to venture into with minimal risk. We shall be celebrating our retirees who have clocked 70 years and above in different regions.

    “We want our retirees to beware of fraudsters. They are not required to pay any amount for processing of their benefit. We have successfully managed their pension contributions for years without hitches and grown their account with impressive returns. We are ethical and their funds are fully protected. Our retirees have no reason to be afraid of what becomes of their money.”

    Speaking on benefits of Programmed Withdrawal for retirees, he said: “While pensions are being paid on a monthly or quarterly basis, the balance in the account is invested in line with PenCom investment guideline. Return on investment of the retiree fund IV is credited with the individual retiree account which is reflected as growth in the retiree account.

    “The return on investment and growth can be seen in the retiree statement of account, which statutorily is made available to retiree on a quarterly basis or anytime on request. However, balance can be viewed on their phones. Following the growth in account, a retiree on Programmed Withdrawal is entitled to pension enhancement.

    “Where the balance in the retiree’s account is fully exhausted, the PFA is obligated to keep paying pensions to such retiree from Pension Protection Fund pending the implementation of the Minimum Pension Guarantee. Where the retiree expires/dies, the survivors or beneficiaries of the deceased are entitled to the balance available in the deceased account. Where the retiree dies intestate, the PFA render gratuitous service of Letter of Administration verification in the probate registry to fast track payment of benefits,” he added.

  • Trustfund engages artisans, traders, others on micro pension

    Trustfund Pensions Plc has urged workers in the informal sector through the Federation of Informal Workers Organisation of Nigeria (FIWON), to take advantage of micro pension plan to save for their future.

    Micro pension, a plan by the National Pension Commission (PenCom, designed to capture the over 70,000 workers in the informal sector, is billed to kick off in January 2019.

    Trustfund, a Pension Fund Administrator (PFA), engaged the workers comprising Nigeria Union of Tailors (NUT), National Association of Motor Mechanics, Nigerian Association of Hairdressers and Cosmetologists (NASHCO), bricklayers and plumbers among others during the One Day Sensitisation Programme, which held in Lagos.

    Trustfund Regional Manager,  Obiora Ozoekwem, who spoke at the event, said the impact of the informal sector is going to be huge on the economy. He however said the company was prepared to capture the informal sector in January.

    Obiora stated that the company is capable of enrolling the workers based on its structure, expertise, branch network and the volume of assets under its management.

    He said Trustfund ownership is diversified and reflects various interests, which include the representative bodies of Nigerian workers, including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), adding that the company is also owned by some employers and financial institutional investors from the private sector.

    He said:“The informal sector, which has over 70,000 of working people in the country, falls under labour union. We believe because the labour union is part of the owners of Trustfund, the people will be more comfortable to enroll with the company. They have a certain level of ownership.

    “This is where we draw our strength from knowing that our branch network, expertise and the volume of assets we are managing will go a long way. The issue of corporate governance and assets protection is top priority for us. We believe that you can’t be a judge in a case where you are also part of the story, and with NLC being part of us, we have an edge above any other organisation.

    “We also believe strongly in FIWON. It is an association of informal sectors’ organisations. FIWON is the central organising platform for working people in the informal sectors of the Nigerian. It has the tailor, farmer, bricklayer, taxi driver and many more workers.”

    Ozoekwem further stated that the company will embark on awareness creation on pension scheme, stressing that the informal sector also comprises of the self-employed, who are not necessarily low-income earners, adding that the company is prepared to engage these categories of people.

    He said there is going to be need for public enlightenment because they need to understand the Contributory Pension Scheme as a whole, as well as the micro pension plan. PenCom has also promised to embark on serious sensitisa-tion campaign on the scheme.”

    Meanwhile, FIWON Secretary General, Gbenga Komolafe, has  called on its members nationwide to stop playing lottery with their hard earned money and participate in the pension scheme to secure their future.

    He said FIWON which was launched in 2010 with about 24 organisation of former workers, currently has about 170 organisa-tions across 21 states, with the sole purpose of ensuring that the workers right is protected.

    “We also ensure that they benefit from mortgage care and support, maternal care and support and other basic amenities,” he said.

    While commending the government initiative to capture the sector, he called on the government to part fund the contributions required in the scheme.

    He called “the categories of workers in the informal sector contribute to the economy, but do not enjoy the benefits that the working people in the formal sector enjoy. “It is in the interest of everybody that government invests in the informal sector,” he said.

    “Government attitude and the need for it to create space for the people to carry out their trade activities is very important. The government is talking to us about pension today, but if they keep destroying our spaces where we engage in trade, where are we going to get money to be able to save for the future?

    “It is not enough for the government to say we should contribute to pension, it should also part fund the scheme for us. Even if it is not 50-50 as we have in the formal sector, but at least, it should encourage the informal sector. If government part funds it, the money will still be in the system while it encourages participation and helps to obviate the effects of inflation,” he added.

  • Trustfund sensitises retirees on CPS

    Trustfund Pension Plc has advised would be retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) to commence plans for their retirement from age 45.

    Regional Manager, Obiora Ozoekwem, gave the advise during the company’s Retiree Forum in Lagos, adding that preparing for retirement early will enable them receive their benefits as and when due.

    He highlighted issues that cause delay in pension payment as un-remitted contributions, especially embloc payments and excess contributions, among others.

    The essence of the forum, he said, was to keep them abreast of the developments on their pension as regulated by the National Pension Commission (PenCom).

    He said: “It is important to notify retirees of the modifications and accurate information so they can get feedback to improve on themselves. For us at Trustfund, our priority is good customer service.

    “This has enabled us grow our customers base and we will not lag behind in our responsibility to ensure that everyone of our customers are comfortable and happy. Gone are the days when you see pensioners queuing and dying on the road, our success is measured by pensioners’ happiness and comfort.

    “Also, technology has helped us enhance our performance to our respective clients. Our website has been upgraded and each customer is able to easily access it and lodge complaints or queries.”

    He said the factors that may cause delay could be from the clients or their employers, noting them as un-remitted contributions, especially embloc payments, excess contributions, among others.

    Ozoekwem furtther enlightened the retirees on the modes of payment of pension benefits under the CPS.

    According to him, there are two forms of withdrawals, the Programmed Withdrawal, which refers to withdrawals of funds on a regular basis, which may be monthly, quarterly etc.

    “As an Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holder upon attaining retirement age or age 50, whichever is later, you can request for the balance in your  RSA account to be paid out to you via programmed withdrawals,”he said.

    He went on: “As regards annuity, it is defined as a series of fixed payments paid at regular intervals over the specified period of the annuity. An RSA holder may upon retirement or attaining the age of 50 years (whichever is later), purchase an annuity from a life insurance company licensed by the National Insurance Commission with monthly or quarterly payments”.

     

  • Trustfund to employers: remit pension deductions seven days after salary payment

    Trustfund Pension Plc has advised employers under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) to remit pension deductions not later than seven days after salaries are paid as stipulated by the Pension Reform Act, 2014.

    The Company’s Regional Manager, Obafemi Arobadi, made this call while speaking with reporters in Lagos. He stated that as pension manager, Trustfund has observed that there were cases where some employers did not remit as and when due.

    He said: “The law states that seven days after salaries have been paid, employees’ pension deductions should be remitted. But just like we have observed, there were cases where some employers did not remit. When we discovered such, we wrote them, visited, persuaded them and convinced them to know the importance and why they should remit.

    “But it is not our duty to pursue employers to enforce the law on them. What the law allows is that the regulator, the National Pension Commission (PenCom), will employ recovery agents, who could be accounting firms or solicitors. Our own role as pension fund administrators is to ensure that we keep the regulator up to date on which employer are not remitting as at when due.”

    He explained that the Act increased the rate of contribution for employees and employers to a minimum of eight per cent and 10 per cent respectively, adding that employers, who chose to bear the full pension cost of their employees, are required to contribute a minimum of 20 per to the scheme.

    “The rates remain applicable to monthly emoluments. The Act defines monthly emoluments as ‘total emoluments as may be defined in the employee’s contract of employment, but shall not be less than a total sum of basic salary, housing allowance and transportation allowance,” he said.

  • Trustfund urges employers on remittances

    Trustfund Pension Plc has called on employers under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) to remit pension contributions promptly to avoid loss of investment income on their employees’ pension fund.

    Its Regional Manager, Obafemi Arobadi, spoke at Trustfund Pension/Zenith Pensions Custodian’s Employers Forum.

    Arobadi said the company trains employers yearly on pensions to enable them be aware of what is expected of them.

    He said they discovered that there were issues at the inception of joining the scheme that disrupt retirees’ payment of benefits after retirement.

    He said: “Having discovered these issues, what we are doing is to mitigate against such issues coming up at the time the employees will be applying for their benefits. So, we regularly update them of recent trends with regards to responsibility to their employees and our responsibility to them as employers.

    “Part of the issues has to do with missing months of pension contribution, non-remittance of pension among others. We discovered that some pin numbers used to pay some employees are wrong leading to the payment not reflecting and if not addressed creates problems when the employee comes in to apply for his benefit.

    “We expect that at the end of the day, we want to see a smooth transaction that flows without any hitch. We want to see our customers apply for their benefits without any delay and get alert as at when due. We want to see them happy after retirement.”

  • Trustfund pays over N20b to retirees

    Trustfund pays over N20b to retirees

    The Regional Manager, Southwest, Trustfund Pensions Plcý, Mr Jacob Oladeji, said the firm has paid over N20 billion to retirees since its inception.

    He said the company has over 40,000 retirees under its contributory pension scheme while it pays N200 million yearly to retirees under the scheme.

    He spoke in Lagos at the weekend during the 2015 employers forum/interactive session for its customers.

    Oladeji, who explained the Pension Reform Act, said the forum was organised to address problems identified in the administration of pension funds which he blamed on the ignorance of employers of their responsibilities  that pension contributions must be remitted into employees Retirement Savings Account (RSA).

    He said challenges such as wrong registration and payment are common issues that are always brought to the seminar and are always addressed, stressing that it was part of the reasons the forum was initiated in the first place.

    He said the scheme is mandatory and employers are expected to adhere to the rules by not only deducting the contributory funds from the employees income but also remitting it to the account of the Pension Fund Administrators (PFA), as there are issues when allocation deducted are not remitted.

    He said: “In some companies, salaries are met but the contributory pension scheme is not met and in cases like this, we encourage the companies, employers to meet up with the requirement of the schemeý.”

    Its Compliance Officer, Mrs Lillian Onwughalu, at the forum while reacting to some of the comments about defaulting employers, said defaulting companies can be made to comply by Pension Commission (PenCom) or the courts.

    Onwughalu said employees can anonymously report their employers to their PFAs or PenCom and they could change their PFAs when the transfer window opens soon.

    She said under the new pension scheme, employers or organisations with less than three employees as well as self-employed persons are entitled to participate in accordance with guidelines of the national pension commission.

    She said the objectives of the scheme is to establish a uniform set of rules, regulations and standards for the administration and payments of retirement benefits for the public service of the federation, state governments, local government councils and the private sector.

    She said aside employers defaulting in remitting payments to their PFAs, “employees should also be monitored as where an employee fails to open an RSA within six months after assumption of dutyý, the employer shall, subject to guidelines of the commission, request a PFA to open a nominal retirement savings for the employee”.

    She said the goal is to update members’ RSA with all contributions remitted for them within 48 hours of receipt of the remittances and corresponding schedules.

  • NLC drums up support for Trustfund

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged Nigerian workers to review upwards the patronage of their  Pension Fund  Administrator, Trustfund Pensions Plc.

    The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, in his address at the congress leadership retreat in Calabar, Cross River State, lamented that the patronage of  workers of the PFA was less than encouraging.

    “It needs to be emphasised that the rate of patronage of the Trustfund PLC, in which we have 10 per cent share in, and which affords Congress the opportunity to nominate a representative on the Board of Directors, is far from encouraging.”, he said

    As a step towards addressing the problems, the NLC boss said the congress will need to review why this is so, and take steps to remedy it.

    The Managing Director of Trustfund Pensions Plc, Mrs. Helen Da-Souza, in her presentation at the event, commended organised labour, whom she said has been in the vanguard of shaping popular opinion and government policies on social security and pensions through various initiatives.

    She said: “This has rightly made labour a major stakeholder in the pension industry in the country.

    “Trustfund Pension Plc’s ownership structure is utmost formidable selling point in the pension market place. Organised Labour/Social Partners- the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC); Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), are key investors in Trustfund Pensions Plc.”

    She noted that organised labour, beyond its financial investment, is recognised as a major stakeholder and driver of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), especially in the private sector and in states where the CPS has been introduced and implemented.

    On the challenges of non remittance by the employers and state governments, Da-Souza said over over 30 per cent Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) are unfunded, adding that inspite of the coverage to state and local governments, less than 10, out of 36 states have fully implemented the CPS.

    She however noted that despite roles played by organised labour in the success of the CPS, Trustfund is yet to enjoy the level of support and patronage expected of a company in which labour has a strong stake.

  • Trustfund educates desk officers on best pension practices

    Trustfund educates desk officers on best pension practices

    Trustfund Pensions Plc has organised an interactive session for private and public organisations’ Pension Desk Officers on the implementation of best practices in deduction and remittances of workers’ pension contributions.

    The session, a collaborative one with Trustfund and Zenith Pensions Custodian Limited, held in Abuja. It was attended by desk officers drawn from all states of the northcentral geopolitical zone.

    Trustfund Pensions Chief Compliance Officer, Rachael Obi, who anchored the event, said it became necessary because of the prevailing “knowledge gap” between operators and employers remitting contributions on a monthly basis.

    Obi said mistakes made at the point of depositing contributors’ funds in the banks, meant that such contributors may face challenges upon retirement when they want to access their savings.

    “We want a situation where  we can reconcile our accounts everyday. We want to be able to operate like the banks in this regard. That is what prompted us to bring our desk officers,” she said.

    She added that the interaction was to create an avenue for the sensitisation of employers on modalities for remittance of contributions and other pension issues affecting individual contributions.

    “It will also educate employers on their regulatory responsibilities in accordance with the Pension Reforms Act of 2014 and to minimise the growth of un-reconciled contributions and transitional contributory funds,” she said.

  • Pension Act denies federal staff of gratuity, EX-TUC boss alleges

    THE implementation of the 2004 Pension Act is denying federal civil servants their gratuities, a former Trade Union Congress (TUC) President, Comrade Peace Obiajulu, has alleged.

    She spoke with reporters yesterday at the fitness training exercise of the Trustfund Pension Plc at Abuja.

    The implementation of the Act, she stated, is at variance with the provision.

    She recalled that upon the enactment of the new Pension Act, former President Olusegun Obasanjo insisted that workers should still earn gratuity alongside their pension entitlement.

    Obiajulu, who compared the old with the new pension schemes, said: “In comparison, it is better but there is room for improvement.

    “Some organisations, especially Federal Government now use it to steal the workers’ gratuity because workers are no more being paid gratuity in Federal Ministries.”

    Calling for improvement in the implementation of the new scheme, the ex- TUC boss said although the Pension Act makes provisions for payment of pension, the Pension Fund custodians now prefer paying 25% and spreading the balance for life.

    She lamented that those who knew her as an advocate of the new Pension law complain the implementation is different from what they battled for.

    Obiajulu, however, said nobody has complained about the operation of the Trustfund Pension Plc to her.

    Former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Timiebi Koripamo-Agari, noted that the Act has improved on the payment of pension.

    She admitted that although there are few challenges in the implementation, the Pension Scheme is better than it was.

    “Whether the amount is enough is a different matter but in terms of payment, the pensioners now receive their payment,”  Koripamo-Agari stressed.

    The Managing Director, Trustfund Pension Administration, Mrs. Helen Dasouza, revealed that the firm is about boosting of about 600,000 customers nationwide.

    Announcing the organisation’s target for 2014, she said: “We said that by the end of the year we should be 650,000 registrations.”

    She said that the Trust fund mobile solution vehicle has been of tremendous progress in terms of registration of new customers.

  • More workers join Trustfund pension

    More workers join Trustfund pension

    Trustfund Pensions Plc has recorded about 25 per cent increase in enrollees, its Managing Director, Mrs Helen Da- Souza, has said.

    Addressing delegates at the Eighth National Labour Relations Summit and Fellowship Award at the Michael Imoudu National Institute of Labour Studies (MINILS) Ilorin, Kwara State, Mrs Da Souza, said Trustfund would soon make gains as it hopes to make its mark through a transfer window it would soon open.

    “We are looking at the transfer window which we will soon open, where we would make our mark. We would end up by the day to be the next gainer. The board is fully supporting the management to achieve our target,” she said.

    She said the investiture of Nigeria Social Insurance Trustfund (NSITF) Chairman Mrs Ngozi Olejeme as a Fellow of the institute was well deserved, adding that the Board Chairman was the brain behind the Employees Compensation Act (ECA) that the government has just enacted.

    “We cannot talk of Employee Compensation Act without mentioning Mrs Ngozi Olejeme, because she is truly the brain behind it.You see what she is doing in NSITF and Trustfund, where she is the Chairman, that after working, after all the contributions, customers will retire to a comfortable way of living,’’ she said.

    Mrs. Olejeme assured Nigerians of the Federal Government’s social protection that would boost essential health care benefits, as well as reduce poverty and inequality in the country

    She said this is a foundation for sustainable and economic growth that has proved to be a powerful anti-crisis measure that protects and empowers people, and contributes to boosting economic demand and accelerating recovery.

    Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Vice-President, Comrade Isa Aremu, said: “She did very well to consummate what was close to almost a decade of struggle, to bring the ECA into being. When we have people like this in the position of public responsibility, it tells you that, regardless of political affiliation, if you want to work, you would work very well. And within a short time, that fund is already building up. Not only that, they have started giving compensation to some of the workers who have sustained injuries at work. It is really commendable.

    “ Trustfund is one of the leading PFAs in the country, with a better corporate governance. It has its challenges, but nonetheless, it has critical stakeholders- Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congree (TUC), Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) and Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).

    “That tells you that women are doing very well in the labour market, and they need to be encouraged in that respect,” he stated.

    President-General, Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Nigeria, Peter Esele said as an investor in Trustfund, last year, he got 10 kobo per share, but this year, he received 15 kobo per share despite the worldwide economic depression. “That means the chairman has moved to a new level and I have also told her that this is what we expect for next year, as long as dividends are coming in, we know that the company is growing.”