Nigeria’s Pension Assets Shed N624bn in One Month

Nigeria’s pension fund assets declined by N623.63 billion in June 2026, erasing nearly two per cent of their value within a month as market valuation losses weighed on major Retirement Savings Account (RSA) funds.

The latest unaudited pension industry portfolio released by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) showed that total assets under management fell to N30.70 trillion at the end of June from N31.32 trillion in May, representing a 1.99 per cent month-on-month decline.

The contraction was driven largely by losses recorded across the industry’s largest RSA funds, particularly Fund II and Fund III, which together account for the bulk of contributors’ pension savings.

Fund II posted the steepest decline, with its net asset value dropping by N495.71 billion to N12.98 trillion from N13.48 trillion a month earlier. Fund III followed with a decline of N128.42 billion, while Closed Pension Fund Administrators (CPFAs) and Fund I recorded losses of N56.07 billion and N20.02 billion, respectively.

Only a handful of funds bucked the trend. Fund IV gained N16.92 billion, Fund V increased by N39.06 billion, Fund VI rose by N12.86 billion, while the Fund VI Retiree portfolio recorded a marginal increase of N813.68 million during the month.

Despite the monthly decline, the industry’s investment structure remained largely unchanged.

Federal Government securities continued to dominate pension portfolios with investments worth N17.40 trillion, representing the single largest asset class. Domestic equities accounted for N5.91 trillion, followed by N2.93 trillion in money market instruments and N2.21 trillion invested in corporate debt securities.

The portfolio also included N353.28 billion in state government securities, N329.43 billion in infrastructure funds, N288.49 billion in mutual funds, N263.24 billion in private equity investments and N162.79 billion in real estate assets, reflecting continued diversification across asset classes.

Industry analysts generally view month-to-month fluctuations in pension assets as being influenced by movements in bond yields, equity prices and mark-to-market valuations rather than changes in contributor balances alone.

The June decline therefore reflects market performance across investment portfolios rather than large-scale withdrawals from the pension system.

Notwithstanding the decline, Nigeria’s contributory pension industry remained above the N30 trillion asset threshold, while RSA membership continued to expand, reaching 11.32 million contributors as of June 2026.

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