Nigeria’s pension assets rose to ₦26.66 trillion in October 2025, representing a 2.19% month-on-month increase from ₦26.09 trillion recorded in September, and a strong 21.63% surge year-on-year.
Data released by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) showed that money market allocation recorded one of the strongest movements in October, rising from ₦2.42 trillion to ₦ N2.88 trillion—an 18.85% MoM increase.
The category now accounts for 10.80% of total pension assets.
- Fixed deposits and bank acceptances drove the rally, surging 24.89% to ₦2.48 trillion, as PFAs sought higher short-term yields and liquidity buffers.
- However, foreign money market instruments plunged 44.80%, due to FX repricing and valuation impacts tied to continued naira volatility.
- While commercial papers rose by 5.61% to ₦328.65 billion.
Corporate bonds dipped from ₦2.24 trillion in September to ₦2.16 trillion in October, contributing 8.11% to the total assets.
The decline was broad-based:
- Corporate Bonds (HTM): down 3.70%
- Corporate Bonds (AFS): down 2.67%
- Infrastructure Bonds: down 7.61%
FGN instruments remain the backbone of Nigeria’s pension portfolio, expanding marginally by 1.35% MoM to ₦15.96 trillion. These securities now account for 59.86% of total pension assets.
Key movements within FGN Securities are:
- Treasury Bills, up 11.34%, due to attractive short-term yields, prompted stronger inflows.
- Fed Govt Bonds (HTM), up 8.14%, still the largest component at ₦13.88 trillion, representing 52% of total pension assets alone.
- Sukuk Bonds, up 5.33%, because of the move to diversify portfolios with instruments offering attractive returns and lower risk.
- Green Bonds, up 1.68%, reflecting renewed interest in sustainability-linked instruments.
- Government securities, up 1.28% reinforce the market-wide risk-off posture as fund managers seek to safeguard value amid volatile equity and FX markets.
Domestic equities grew 5.01%, increasing to ₦3.84 trillion, and accounting for 14.42% of total assets. This is supported by bargain-hunting as investors priced in potential year-end rallies.
Foreign equity exposure, on the other hand, fell 6.45%, echoing valuation pressures and conservative FX repositioning.
Total allocation to equities (domestic + foreign) represents about 15.39% of total pension assets.
The alternatives segment delivered mixed outcomes:
Mutual funds advanced 1.32% to ₦221.88 billion, buoyed by moderate growth of 2.22% and 0.21% in open/closed-ended funds and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), respectively.
- Infrastructure Funds, likewise, increased by 9.23% to ₦262.57 billion, signaling renewed PFA interest in real-sector diversification
- Private Equities declined by 10.53% to ₦233.10 billion, reflecting valuation adjustments and cautious commitments.
- Real Estate dropped sharply by 40.19% from ₦243.35 billion to ₦145.56 billion, possibly due to portfolio restructuring or markdowns.
- Supranational Bonds retreated by 10.44% to ₦19.70 billion.
Cash & other assets declined sharply by 16.79% from ₦518.95 billion to ₦ N431.84 billion in October, reallocating into higher-yielding money-market and government securities.
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Retirement Savings Account (RSA) enrollments grew from 10.93 million in September to 10.97 million in October, a 0.39% increase.
Across the RSA structure, the distribution remained consistent with historical trends, as Fund II remains the largest and most actively managed segment of the industry:
- Fund II, the default fund for active RSA contributors aged 49 and below, rose to N11.25 trillion, increasing by 2.68%. This fund contributed 42.18% to the total assets, highlighting strong inflows and solid investment returns.
- Fund III (Pre-Retiree), the default Retirement Savings Account (RSA) fund for active Nigerian contributors aged 50 and above, also increased modestly by 1.89% to N6.85 trillion, accounting for 25.71% of the total assets.
- Fund I (Aggressive) recorded a significant growth of 6.99% to ₦424.11 billion.
- Fund IV (Retiree Fund) and Fund V (Micro-Pension) posted growth of 3.65% and 4.42%, respectively, while Fund IV contributed 7.58% to the total assets.
- Fund VI (Shariah) increased by 7.16% to ₦205.39 billion.
- Fund VI (Retiree Shariah), ₦21.52 billion, +4.16%, 0.08%
- Existing schemes and CPFAs contributed by 12% and 10.10% to the total asset funds, respectively, reinforcing the growth trajectory across legacy and institutional schemes.
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