National Pension Commission (PenCom) 1st Quarter Report for 2019

National Pension Commission (PenCom) has released its 1st Quarter Report for 2019.

Below are 10 notable extracts from the report;

Supervisory Activities
The Commission maintained its consultative philosophy in the regulation and supervision of the industry during the quarter under review. The risk based examination approach was implemented as a way of promoting transparency and providing early warning signals as well as encouraging pension operators to regularly self-evaluate their positions.

Yearly Routine Examination
The Commission conducted a retreat to review the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and Manual of Pension Operators in preparation for the 2019 Routine Examination. The Commission also issued previous Examination Reports of Licensed Operators and presented same to their respective Board of Directors.

New Special Pension Fund Administrator
The Commission issued a Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) Licence to Nigerian University Pension Management Company (NUPEMCO). NUPEMCO will serve members and employees of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU); National Universities Commission (NUC); Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU); Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU); and National Association of Academic Technologist (NAAT), who CHOOSE to move their Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) to the new special PFA.

Compliance Reports
The Commission reviewed monthly Compliance Reports submitted by Pension Operators. The major issues observed from the review of the compliance reports forwarded by the operators during the quarter under review were un-credited pension contributions, delay in the payment of retirement benefits to the retirees and outstanding commitments from previous routine examinations.

Compliance and Enforcement Activities
The Commission continued to apply various strategies to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014. This included the application of sanctions and collaboration with key stakeholders on public enlightenment campaigns as well as engagement of defaulting employers via pension recovery agents employed by the Commission to recover unremitted pension contributions.

Refund of Pension Contribution of Military and Security Agencies
The Commission approved an extension of the timeline given to the Tripartite Committee for the Winding Down of the pension contribution refunds to the Military and Security Agencies from 31 March 2019 to 30 June 2019. This is to ensure that all refunds are effected while ensuring adequate documentation of all processes.

State Government Compliance with Contributory Pension Scheme
State Governments performance on the implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) remains unimpressive. As at the first quarter of 2019, the number of States that have enacted laws on the CPS stood at 27, while eight (8) States were at the bill stage of implementation. Yobe State is, however, yet to commence the process of enacting a law on the CPS. The Commission continued its engagement with State Governments on the implementation of the CPS. The Commission also conducted the First Quarter 2019 Consultative Forum for States and the FCT.

Micro Pension Plan
Micro Pension plan was formally launched by President Buhari on 28 March, 2019 at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja. The launch was attended by several Stakeholders including various trade associations, leadership of Labour and employers, amongst others. The Commission is in the process of issuing a Fee Structure to govern the management of the Micro Pension Fund by Pension Fund Operators.The Commission has directed Pension Fund Administrators to open a Collection account with Pension
Fund Custodians of their choice for the receipt of contributions from Micro Pension Participants.

RSA Registration and Assets under Management.
The total number of Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) as at 31 March 2019 is 8,569,037.
Total assets under the Contributory Pension Scheme rose to approximately N9.03 Trillion as at the end of March 2019.

Withdrawals from Retirement Savings Account

LumpSum and Monthly Pension.
During the 1st quarter of 2019, the sum of N39.40 billion was paid to 13,791 retirees as lump sum and N522.48 million as monthly programmed withdrawals.

Annuity
The Commission approved a total of 4,264 applications for retirement under life annuity during the quarter. The 4,264 retirees received N9.83 billion as lump sum payment and paid premium of N24.81 billion to insurance companies.

25% of RSA Balance
Approval was granted for payment of N4.51 billion to 10,733 RSA holders who were under the age of 50 years and were disengaged from work and unable to secure another job within 4 months of disengagement.

Death Benefits
The Commission approved the payment of N4.28 billion as death benefits to the beneficiaries of 1,586 deceased employees during the quarter.

En-Bloc Payments
The Commission granted approval for the payment of the entire RSA balances of the categories of retirees whose RSA balances were N550,000 or below and considered insufficient to procure a Programmed Withdrawal or Annuity of a reasonable amount over an expected life span. The sum of N625.43 million was paid to 3,467 retirees under this category.

The full report is also available for your perusal here
https://www.pencom.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2019-1st-Quarter-Report.pdf