NBM Pension Administration Limited (PAL), a subsidiary of Malawi Stock Exchange-listed National Bank of Malawi, last week announced that its fund grew to K400.7 billion in the year ended December 31, 2025.
The performance, according to the fund, is despite a challenging operating environment, whose spillover effects are felt this year.
Speaking on Thursday during its annual general meeting, NBM PAL Board of Trustees Chairperson Michael Kampani said the fund had grown significantly over the past five years, from K47.1 billion in 2021.
Kampani attributed the 2025 outturn to exceptional gains on the Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE), which saw the Malawi All Share Index (Masi) recording a 247.63 percent returns.
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“We gave our members a return of 115 percent, which is an indication of a very good performance, meaning our members’ funds and assets are growing to support them during retirement,” Kampani said.
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He, however, said the outlook for 2026 was mixed, with the stock market already recording weaker performance in the first six months of the year.
He said the market was likely to remain bearish throughout the year, a situation he said could weigh on investment returns.
Kampani said fund managers were also having to rebalance their portfolio following the Reserve Bank of Malawi’s Financial Services (Investment Management of Life Insurers and Pension Funds) Directive of 2025, which requires pension funds and life insurers to invest no more than 60 percent of their assets in listed equities.
Kampani said most pension funds exceeded the threshold after the significant gains recorded on listed equities in 2025, prompting fund managers to issue sale orders as they work towards compliance.
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According to the fund’s asset mix, listed equities accounted for 78 percent of its investments as at June 2026, down from 80 percent at the close of December 2025.
The government securities accounted for 12 percent in June while unlisted equities increased to 4 percent from 2 percent in December.
The development has seen the fund’s value declining slightly to K395.1 billion as at June 2026.
One of the stakeholders, Blantyre City Council Director of Finance Richard Chakhala, said he was hopeful that things would pan out well.
“Just like any other interested stakeholder, I am worried.
“However, I know that the strategies that they have put in place should be able to at least address some of the challenges that they highlighted,” Chakhala said.
