The fund under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) has returned to the path of growth and gained N92billion in March.
The unaudited report on pension funds industry portfolio for the period ended March 31, 2021 obtained from the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) showed that the funds grew from N12.248 trillion to N12.34 trillion in March.
Previous industry reports showed that the funds had been depleting despite recording significant growth in the previous years.
In January, the CPS funds declined by N7 billion and by another N52 billion in February.
According to the figures, the PENCOM invested N8.5 trillion of the funds Federal Government’s securities in March.
Other investment portfolios where the funds were invested included domestic and foreign ordinary shares; corporate debt securities comprising of corporate bonds, corporate infrastructure bonds, corporate green bonds and supra-national bonds.
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The funds were also invested in local money market securities comprising of bank placements, commercial papers and foreign money market securities.
The Pension Fund Administrators invested the rest in mutual funds comprising open/close-end funds, REITs, real estate properties, private equity funds, infrastructure funds, cash and other assets.
The President, Association of Pension Fund Operators of Nigeria, Mr Wale Odutola, explained that pension funds were largely invested in fixed income securities and when those securities accumulate in the market with rising interest rates, the value of the securities would decline.
He said this accounted for the recent decline in the two months due to the underwriting interest rates in the environment.
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