According to data from the National Pension Commission, Nigeria’s pension fund assets surged to N19.531 trillion as of January 31, 2024. This reflects a significant increase of about 6.40% compared to the N18.356 trillion reported in December 2023.

The monthly report for January 2024, released by PenCom and reviewed by Nairmetrics, highlights the steady growth in pension fund net asset value. It reveals that total pension fund NAV rose from N18.356 trillion in December to N19.531 trillion in January.

A breakdown of the data shows that investment in Federal Government of Nigeria securities remains dominant, accounting for about N12.13 trillion or 62.15% of the total NAV.

Pension funds also allocated N2.169 trillion to Corporate Debt Securities and N1.711 trillion to Money Market Instruments. Investments in ordinary shares of local companies saw a notable increase, rising by 22.92% to N1.931 trillion from N1.571 trillion in December.

Among the various RSA Funds, Fund II, the default Retirement Savings Account (RSA) Fund under the Multi-Fund Structure, maintained the largest share of the Active RSA Funds allocation, with N8.155 trillion or 42% of the total fund NAV. Fund III also experienced growth, rising by 2.27% from N4.942 trillion to N5.054 trillion, securing its second position for fund allocation.

Furthermore, the report indicates a slight increase in RSA membership, rising by 0.32% to 10,223,672 members in January 2024 from 10,191,400 members in December 2023.

The significant rise in pension fund assets, from N14.9 trillion in December 2022 to N19.5 trillion in January 2024, represents a staggering N4.6 trillion increase, reflecting a 30.87% growth. Comparatively, between 2021 and 2022, pension fund assets rose by only N1.57 trillion, from N13.42 trillion to N14.99 trillion.

This substantial growth is attributed to a surge in pension fund contributions and a rise in portfolio values. Notably, FGN Securities have seen a notable increase in their NAV, rising from N9.64 trillion in 2022 to N11.83 trillion as of January 2024.