Access Pensions Leads Pension Industry in Investment Performance

Nume Ekeghe

According to recent data released by industry analysts Pension Nigeria, The Nigerian Police Force (NPF) Pensions and Access Pensions closed 2022 as the top PFAs by investment returns across the four main retirement savings accounts funds.

Over the year, average pension fund returns across the four funds was 8.97 percent, 9.55 percent, 9.86 percent, and 10.22 percent for Fund I, II, III and IV respectively.

Globally, 2022 was a difficult year for financial markets as rate hikes by global central banks drove bearish sentiments across most asset classes. In Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) responded to rising inflation with an increase in the key monetary policy rate from 11.5 percent to 16.5 percent by the end of the year.

NPF Pensions is a special interest pension fund administrator dedicated to managing pensions for members of the Nigerian Police force while Access Pensions was formed from the merger of the erstwhile Sigma Pensions Limited and First Guarantee Pensions Limited. Among the open PFAs not dedicated to a special interest group, Access Pensions topped the pack with Leadway in second place and CrusaderSterling in third place. In terms of returns, these three PFAs delivered returns above the peer average across their four main funds. 2022’s top performance is a significant milestone for Access Pensions following the entry of Access Corporation into the pension space and this strong investment returns makes it an attractive choice for those looking to invest in a well-managed pension fund.

In 2022, despite the difficult macroeconomic environment, aggregate pension assets under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) hit the NGN15trillion looking at data from the National Pension Commission (PenCom).