The number of workers who made withdrawals from their voluntary contributions under their pension savings in response to the severe hardship in the economy grew by 87.6% in the first quarter of 2024.
According to the National Pension Commission’s first-quarter report, 1,259 workers made withdrawals from the private sector, while 43 were from the public sector.
Precisely, the number of workers who withdrew from their voluntary contributions increased to 1,302 in Q1’24 from 694 in the previous quarter, Q4’23.
In addition, the value of funds withdrawn from voluntary contributions climbed by 160 per cent, to N3.9 billion, up from N1.5 billion the previous quarter.
Voluntary Contributions are extra funds that a worker can opt to add to his/her mandatory pension contributions, or simply set aside as retirement savings.
The Pension Reform Act (PRA) of 2014 permits employees to make voluntary contributions to their Retirement Savings Accounts, RSAs, in addition to their mandated pension contributions, with the sole purpose of improving their retirement benefits.
The report stated “Approvals were granted to 1,302, RSA holders to access N3.9 billion of their voluntary contributions during the quarter under review while 24 were rejected due to incorrect computations. 1,259 RSA holders whose benefits were approved were from the private sector, while 43 were from the public sector.”
However, on RSA holder’s request to access their pension savings for mortgage, the report stated “A total of 1,390 RSA holders requested to access up to 25% of their RSA balances towards payment of equity contributions for residential mortgage during the quarter under review. Approvals were granted to 1,234 requests amounting to N10.5 billion, while 156 were rejected due to incorrect documentation. Out of the 1,234 applicants whose benefits were approved, 379 were from the private sector, while the remaining 855 were from the public sector.”
According to the report, 89,061 new RSAs were registered in various sectors during the quarter ended March 31, 2024.
In the analysis of RSA registrations across PFAs, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers had the greatest market share of new registrations at 23.9%, with 21,288 contributors registered, followed by Access Pensions Limited at 22.5%, with 20,042 contributors registered. ARM Pension Managers Ltd, Leadway Pensure PFA, and Premium Pension accounted for 8.4%, 7.1%, and 7.0% of new registrations during the quarter, respectively. As a result, the top five PFAs held 68.8%, while the bottom five PFAs accounted for 4.3% of the 89,061 new RSAs filed in Q1’24. An analysis of RSA registrations across PFAs found that Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers had the greatest market share of new registrations at 23.9%, with 21,288 contributors registered, followed by Access Pensions Limited at 22.5%.
Thus, the top five PFAs collectively owned 68.8%, whereas the bottom five PFAs reported an aggregate of 4.3% of the 89,061 new RSAs filed in Q1’24.
