Nico Pensions has said the year 2023 was successful for the company as it managed to weather the storm associated with the devaluation of the Kwacha and Tropical Cyclone Freddy.
Nico Pensions Chief Executive Officer Gerald Chima was speaking in Lilongwe yesterday during the 2024 Nico Client Engagement Seminar held under the theme ‘Protecting Pensions in Turbulent Times’.
According to Chima, the firm has managed to declare a return of 36.25 percent on the Ufulu Pension Fund, which is a guaranteed fund.
On the Timasuke Fund, which is a non-guaranteed fund, the firm has declared a return of 45 percent.
“Times have been hard for everyone; even our pension fund members. So we decided to do this seminar so that we do presentations to them in terms of how we are investing their funds and how we are managing their funds, with a specific focus on how their funds are protected from the turbulent shocks that the economy in Malawi is going through,” China said.
- Advertisement -
According to Chima, the firm does not just invest the money in a single class of assets but invests in a combination of assets such as the Malawi Stock Exchange, bonds and property.
He said because of that spread as well as how the firm moves the funds around, it is able to give back good returns.
Reserve Bank of Malawi Principal Examiner Shamiso Malekano bemoaned the growing levels of pension arrears.
According to the latest Financial Stability Report by RBM, pensions arrears grew from K31.2 billion in June 2023 to K35.5 billion, with government being the main culprit, accounting for 54 percent of arrears.
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
Malekano said the new Pensions Act of 2023 gives powers to the Registrar of Financial Institutions to commence legal proceedings against firms that fail to remit pension deductions to fund managers.
