FUG Pensions moves to increase market share

The management of Future Unity Glanvills Pensions Limited (FUG) has commenced moves to increase market share and deepen the business reach of pension fund administration company through a strategic market development initiative.

The company’s Managing Director, Usman Suleiman, stated that the exercise is aimed at growing assets under management three folds.

He said the initiative designed to capture more state accounts, multinationals and even local governments’ employees’ Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs), as well as legacy funds, is aimed at growing the company’s market share and reposition it for higher profitability.

To this end, the company has commenced the restructuring of its operation to align with best global practices and be in a good position to render effective and efficient service to the customers.

In line with its quality assurance policy, FUG Pensions also promised to render prompt and better services to its existing and potential customers, given its robust information communication technology (ICT) platform recently upgraded and deployed to drive processes.

Suleiman assured that by the time the restructuring exercise is completed, it would catapult the company to be among the top players in the industry.

The company has staff strength of 85 members with thorough bred professionals manning each unit.

FUG Pensions’ leadership development programmes and retreats help to develop the mindset and skills needed. For employees at all levels, the company has training and recognition schemes focused on instilling workplace behaviours desirous of the organisation.

In a similar vein, the company is concluding plans to move into its own property in Yaba, Lagos State which would serve as its corporate head office.

FUG operates from 26 business outlets and six regional offices strategically located across the country.

Although Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) require a capital base of N1 billion to operate in the country, FUG Pensions increased its capital base N1.5 billion in order to serve its customers better.

Source: Daily Independent

524, 206 workers join pension scheme in 2013

A total of 524, 206 employees joined the contributory pension scheme in Nigeria during the year 2013 as the number of employees who registered with the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) increased from 5,393,001 on January 1, 2013 to 5,917,207 on December 31, 2013, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) has informed.

This represents a significant improvement over the total number of employees who joined the scheme during the two preceding years since about 350, 000 employees joined the nation’s pension scheme in 2012, while about 286, 000 employees joined the scheme in 2011.

The current number of contributors to the nine year old pension scheme which is 5.91 million still fell short of expectation given the population of the country in excess of 160 million and the number of people engaged in active service at present.

According to PenCom, the number of employees who have registered with the PFAs was 839,254 in June 2006.

The Pension Act establishes a contributory pension scheme for payment of retirement benefits of employees in the Public Service of the Federation, Federal Capital Territory and in the Private Sector where there are five or more employees in employment in an organisation.  The Act became effective from June 25, 2004.

The objectives of the scheme are to ensure that every person who worked in either the Public Service of the Federation, Federal Capital Territory or Private Sector receives his retirement benefits as and when due.

It is also designed to assist improvident individuals by ensuring that they save in order to cater for their livelihood during old age, while also establishing a uniform set of rules, regulations and standards for the administration and payments of retirement benefits for the Public Service of the Federation, Federal Capital Territory and the Private Sector.

The administration of pension in the country has been enhanced with the passage of the Pension Act which has not only provided a platform for a more effective, efficient and transparent administration of pensions in the Federal Public Service and the private sector, but also generated a pool of long term investible funds that already had positive impact on the growth of the nation’s economy.

The pool of pension funds and assets generated by the contributory pension scheme has aided the deepening of the financial sector and provided a platform for attaining the transformation agenda of Government in the provision of infrastructure, energy, employment generation and the development of the real sector of the economy.

Source: Daily Independent

Operators raise alarm over quack reinsurance brokers

The attention of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has been drawn to the fact that virtually all registered insurance brokers in Nigeria now claim to be reinsurance brokers without due regard to the provisions of the Insurance Act 2003 relating to the practice of reinsurance broking.

Daily Independent gathered that in a petition to NAICOM, the licensed reinsurers stated that there are some insurance brokers in the country operating as reinsurance brokers without having any knowledge or understanding of what reinsurance broking is all about.

Section 43 of the Insurance Act provides that “(1) No insurance broker shall undertake reinsurance broking without the approval of the commission.

(2) The commission may grant an approval to an insurance broker for purposes of subsection (1) of this section if it is satisfied that:

(a) the insurance broker has the required expertise to conduct the class of reinsurance business ; and

(b) at least one partner or director of the insurance broking firm or company has at least five years working experience in the middle management cadre of a reinsurance broking firm or company.”

The petition reads in part: “on a typical reinsurance treaty bouquet, we may have more than eight ‘reinsurance brokers’ with probably only one or two of the brokers can actually be regarded as reinsurance brokers, others are just there to make up the number without any knowledge or understanding of what reinsurance broking is all about.”

“We are not saying that these companies reinsurance broking, but they should comply with the provisions of the law and as well train their members of staff. This development has not helped the growth of reinsurance sector.”

In order to bring sanity to the reinsurance broking sector, the reinsurers therefore pleaded with NAICOM to endeavour to publish on a regular basis, the names of insurance broking firms qualified to practice reinsurance broking in accordance with the provisions of the law.

In a similar vein, the reinsurers alleged that the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) has now made reinsurance subjects optional for students writing the institute’s examinations, indicating that a student can pass through all the stages leading to the award of CIIN Diploma without having a good knowledge of reinsurance.

The CIIN was therefore enjoined to ensure that any student aspiring to be a chartered insurer in the country passed at least the principles of reinsurance.

Source: Daily Independent

‘Contributory Pension Scheme will eliminate corruption’

The Managing Director, Premium Pension Limited, Mr. Wilson Ideva, has said the Contributory Pension Scheme will make corruption in pension management a thing of the past if generally embraced in strict compliance with legal instruments establishing it.

A statement by the Head, Corporate Communication, Premium Pension, Mr. Paddy Ezeala, quoted Ideva as saying this during a summit for education ministries, agencies and institutions, which was organised by Exam Ethics Marshals International in Lagos.

“People steal what they do not need for fear of the unknown. The new Contributory Pension Scheme has provided an umbrella that guarantees decent life for workers upon retirement and secures a large pool of funds that can be deployed for national development,” the managing director said.

He noted that the success recorded by the pension industry within a short period of time would encourage workers to do their jobs honestly in the expectation that their future was guaranteed.

Ideva also said the funds under management in the pension scheme could be used to hold down inflation and develop the country’s infrastructure.

The pension administrator noted that more than N4tn was under management even though only six million out of the estimated 70 million Nigerian workforce was enrolled in the scheme.

According to the statement, the founding Chairman, Exam Ethics Marshals, Mr. Ike Onyechere, said corruption had permeated every sphere of the society, including educational institutions where teachers were now taking bribes from students.

Mediation fails in Rhode Island public pension lawsuit

Talks to end a legal challenge to Rhode Island's public pension reform failed on Friday, both sides said, putting the state on track for a potentially costly trial against labor unions in a closely-watched battle over public sector retirement benefits.

Firefighters, teachers and retirees involved in the suit had all agreed to a settlement. But police union members rejected the agreement, prompting the state judge overseeing the litigation to order the parties back to mediation on Monday.

"Due to a small group of union members the settlement agreement has failed and the mediation process has ended," Governor Lincoln Chafee and General Treasurer Gina Raimondo said in a statement.

Source: Reuters