Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) in the country may have invested over N1.8 trillion in Federal Government securities.

According to a report by Inspen, an online insurance medium, the pension regulator, National Pension Commission (PenCom), which confirmed this in its recent report, said the figure represents over 61 per cent of pension assets in the country under PFAs management.

The commission said over N370 billion or 13 per cent of pension assets in the country was invested in money market instruments, while N335 billion or 12 per cent was invested in stock on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) while pension asset invested in real peaked at N167.89 billion or 6 per cent of the total fund.

The report also confirmed that operators invested as much as N109.24 billion or 4 per cent of pension assets in state government securities while investments in corporate debt security rose to N72.10 billion or 2 per cent of the fund.

In addition, pension assets invested in unquoted securities peaked at N24.67 billion or 1 per cent of the pooled fund while another N23.49 billion or 1 per cent of the fund were invested in other investment portfolios, PenCom said.

The pension regulator also explained that the regulation on investment of pension fund assets was revised to expand the allowable investment outlets to include alternative asset classes such as: Private Equity (PE) funds, infrastructure financing (debt instruments and funds), supra-national bonds, etc.

The commission also assured that it would continue to review investment regulations, adding that multiple funds would be established and ethical fund introduced, and that its guidelines on offshore investment are being worked out to encourage operators explore foreign investment windows.