Premium Pension pays over N300bn benefits

Premium Pension Limited has paid over N300bn in pension benefits since its inception.

This was revealed by the Acting Managing Director of the company, Kemi Oluwashina, at a Retiree Forum, themed ‘Embracing Your Golden Years: A Fresh Perspective’ which was held in Lagos recently.

According to the first quarter report from the National Pension Commission, Premium Pension Limited cornered seven per cent of the new 89,061 Retired Savings Accounts opened in the quarter, making it one of the top five Pension Fund Administrators with the largest share of the market in terms of new RSAs.

Speaking at the forum, Oluwashina said, “The industry today has over N20tn and Premium Pension is proud to say that we account for over N1.2tn of it. The industry has paid out trillions of naira in benefits and we are happy to say that Premium Pension has paid out over N300bn in pension benefits since we started.

“Premium Pension pays over a billion naira in total withdrawals every single month to over 25,000 retirees and we are happy to be part of the successes recorded in the pension industry.”

Highlighting how the Pension Reform Act has changed the narrative for retirees, Oluwashina said having conversations about how to do better was critical.

She stated, “I was looking at PENCOM’s Q1 report. We paid over a trillion naira as an industry in pension benefits. Apart from the fact that we have over N20tn in assets. We have paid over a trillion naira under programme withdrawal, the same thing under annuity. A trillion naira is not small money in any standard or any currency.

She added that engagement with the Federal Government, and lawmakers was key to keep improving the pension industry.

On Premium Pension’s commitment to retirees, Oluwashina stated, “We want to grow people’s wealth so that they can enjoy their golden years. It is at the core of what we do. It is our mission. It is not one that we will suddenly wake up and realise that it is no longer relevant. It is and will remain relevant to our business. They are the reasons why we’re in business.

That is why we organised this event. We need to give them (retirees and would-be retirees) that platform to be heard. We need to give them that platform to know that they are appreciated. The feedback from sessions like this we use in our engagement and interaction with the regulators or the respective employers, which in this case includes the federal government, state governments, and of course private sector organisations. We are not only engaging with them as employers, but we’re also the voice of their respective employees. So this feedback for us is fantastic. We love it.”