PenCom Yet to Receive RSA Mortgage Financing Application as Pension Assets Hit N14.42tn

Three months after the National Pension Commission (PenCom) approved Guidelines on Accessing Retirement Savings Account (RSA) balance for payment of equity contribution for residential mortgage by RSA holders, the commission has said it has neither received nor approved application from RSA holders to this effect.

This is despite the ovation and jubilation that trailed the release of the guideline by contributors into the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

The commission however said 50 percent of the total 9.9 million contributors into the  CPS qualified to access their retirement savings for the mortgage financing going by the stipulations of the guidelines, which it released in September this year.

The commission at the 2022 media retreat organised by the Pension Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) for Pension journalists said on its part, it was waiting for the Central Bank of Nigeria to release list of eligible mortgage institutions which hopefully would commence next week.

This is as PenCom has announced that total Pension Assets generated by Pension Fund Administrators and Custodians since the inception of Contributory Pension Scheme to date now stands at N14.42 trillion.

The commission said the above figure was generated between 2004 and September 30th 2022.

PenCom, said out of the above figures, N10.31 trillion came from RSA ‘Active’ Funds (i.e. RSA Funds I, II III and V); N1.15 trillion from RSA Retiree Fund IV; N1.49 trillion from Closed Pension Fund Administrators (CPFAs); and N1.44 trillion from Approved Existing Schemes.

It said Fund VI Active and Retiree Fund amounted to N32.68 billion.

The commission in its quarterly report for the third quarter 2022 said greater part of this assets were mainly invested in federal government securities (FGN), which accounted for 63.73 percent of total assets.

According to the PenCom report, the total pension contributions remitted to individual RSAs in Q3 2022 stood at N223.82 billion. Out of this total, the public sector accounted for N120.62 billion or 53.89 while the private sector contributed N103.20 billion or 46.11.

“The cumulative pension contribu- tions from inception to the end of the third quarter of 2022 amounted to N8.24 trillion, which is an increase from N8.01 trillion as at the end of Q2 2022. “

Presenting the 2022 last quarter report, PenCom Director General Mrs Aisha Dahir Umar, said despite the overwhelming head-winds in the global economic climate and the country’s challenging macroeconomic environment, the Pension Fund Assets under Management (AuM) within two years increased by N156.74 billion from N14.27 trillion as 30 June 2020 to N14.42 tril- lion as at 30 September 2022.

“This laudable performance, in the growth of the AuM, points to the fact that the pension industry will continue to deliver value and benefit to its stakeholders and the nation’s economy, ”she said.