04 August 2018:The National Bureau of Statistics released the report on pension funds industry portfolio for Q2’18, giving us a first look at Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) portfolio holdings – post the implementation of the multi-fund structure in July. Despite the new guidelines nudging PFAs to ramp up their equity holdings, Q2 data shows a decline in equity portion of AUM from 9.25% in Q1 to 8.62% in Q2. 

Analysts note that this drop may reflect an equity market slump in the quarter (NSE ASI down 8% q/q), general bearish sentiment towards equity investments in a pre-election year, as well as a possible switch to higher yields in the fixed income market. Whilst analysts still expect PFAs to ramp up their equity holdings as the new multi-fund structure takes hold, analysts do not expect much traction on this in the near term. 

Reporting for EasyKobo on Tuesday , 04 August 2018 in Lagos, Nigeria

Source: Vetiva Capital Management Limited