FCMB Pensions, a subsidiary of FCMB Group Plc, has set its sights on informal sector workers as it pushes to expand its asset base beyond N1tn, targeting N1.2tn in assets under management by the end of December 2025.
The Managing Director of FCMB Pensions, Christopher Bajowa, disclosed this on the sidelines of the firm’s 20th Anniversary Dinner and Awards ceremony held in Abuja recently.
Bajowa said the company, which currently manages over N1.1tn in assets, is positioning the Personal Pension Plan as its next major growth driver, noting that inclusion remains the biggest challenge facing the pension industry.
Addressing journalists at the event, he said, “The company is planning to be a major player in the industry, with focus on the Personal Pension Plan as the next frontier of pension growth.”
According to him, expanding the number of contributors has been difficult, particularly among informal sector workers, adding that the regulator is also paying increased attention to the segment because of its potential to deepen pension inclusion.
“The major challenge has been that of inclusion. Efforts to grow the number of contributors have been a challenge, and the regulator is focused on this area because of its great potential to grow inclusion,” Bajowa said.
He also pointed to macroeconomic pressures, especially currency instability, as a constraint to long-term savings in the pension space.
“How do you encourage customers to save when the value of their savings is diminishing? There’s a lot of work in this area, and even the Federal Government is working on boosting the value of the naira and also creating opportunities for us to access foreign currencies in order to hedge against devaluation if it continues to happen,” he said.
Bajowa noted that despite these challenges, FCMB Pensions has maintained resilience over the years, paying more than N200bn to retirees and other beneficiaries, while steadily growing its asset base.
Chronicling the firm’s journey over the past two decades, a pioneer Managing Director of FCMB Pensions, Bello Maccido, said the company started as a modest institution owned by retail investors who took advantage of the Pension Reform Act of 2004.
Maccido explained that the company achieved early stability and growth within a few years of operations. “Within three years of operation, we were able to break even, and within five years, we were able to post two consecutive years of profitability,” he said.
He added that by the time he completed five years at what was then Legacy Pension, later FCMB Pensions, the firm had signed up 187,000 Retirement Savings Accounts and built an asset base of N72bn.
“We had clients such as Division One of the Nigerian Army, the Central Bank of Nigeria, NIPOST, and other individual RSA holders from across the length and breadth of this country,” Maccido said.
Reflecting on the company’s current scale, he praised the successive management for growing assets to over N1tn.
Also, a former board member of FCMB Pensions and former Managing Director of Legacy Pension Managers, Maheer Rasheed, said the firm’s growth reflected years of sacrifice, strong governance, and institutional trust.
“Twenty years and N1tn under investment. When I left, we had about N148bn, but since then, to attain N1tn under management is not a small feat,” Rasheed said.
He attributed the growth to deliberate efforts by the board and management. “It has to be done through conscious efforts of management and board, which I must recognise,” he said.
Rasheed added that the company could reach N1.2tn in assets by the end of the year. “In fact, I learnt that by the end of this December, we may reach N1.2tn. So, this geometric growth is a result of foundational establishment and infrastructure, both in terms of governance and in terms of the trust which we have developed in the system,” he said.
He described the broader pension industry as a worthwhile outcome of the 2004 reform. On his part, a Non-Executive Director of FCMB Pensions, James Ilori, representing the Board Chairman, Ladi Balogun, expressed satisfaction with the firm’s progress over the last two decades.
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