By Ebere Nwoji
The IEI-Anchor Pensions Managers has announced its financial results for the year ended December 31,2017.
The results showed that the company’s profit before tax dropped significantly from N116 million in 2016, to N45 million in the year under review.
Similarly, its profit after tax also fell from N81 million in 2016 to N1.4million in 2017.
The company, however, said it recorded growth in Assets under Management which rose from N58 billion in 2016 to N68 billion in 2017, showing an increase by 17.38 per cent, just as its gross revenue grew from N544 million in 2016, to N661 million in 2017.
Similarly, its Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) revealed an increase from 10,000 in 2016 to 12,394 opened in 2017, which was a 24 per cent growth in generation levels, while its RSA Fund Unit price grew from N1.9411 in 2016 to N2.2124 in 2017, representing growth of 13.98 per cent.
Disclosing these at the sixth Annual General Meeting of the company held in Abuja recently, its Chairman, Prof. Jonathan Silas Zwingina, said IEI-Anchor Pension Managers in the year under review became more efficient due to structural and technological infrastructure deliberately put in place to ensure efficiency and customer satisfaction.
“The resilience of your company is not in doubt as it continued to grow despite the steep competition in the pension industry.
“The assets under management grew by 17 per cent, from N58 billion in 2016, to N68 billion in 2017.Opportunities were seized and maximised.
“The spirit of this growth has been achieved thus far with the help of the management team guided by the board.
“The efforts of our employees cannot also be overlooked. They have remained committed and dedicated to building the company,” said the chairman.
He noted that the pension industry, in the year under discussion, also encountered some pressure with clamours by the National Assembly to increase the lump sum payments for retirees which is currently about 25 per cent, to 75 per cent.
“Stakeholders in the pension industry were opposed to this proposition, which has now been put on hold. The Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) was also further extended to include members of the informal sector, through the micro-pension scheme.
“This plan will enhance the viability of pension assets to further secure retirement benefits. All PFAs are gearing up for its start up.”
He said there was no doubt that the inclusion of the arm of the society would lead to a large in-flow of resources, thereby growing the already robust pension assets and providing a major financial base for investment opportunities.
According to him, the economy was expected to benefit meaningfully from this initiative with the provision of more funds for infrastructural development.
Also speaking, Managing Director of IEI-Anchor Pensions, Glory Etaduovie, explained that the slight drop in the profit of the company was due to capital reinjection, addition to its branch network, facelift of existing branches and outlets to meet with competitors and regulators standards. “
“Our staff size also increased from 83 in 2016 to 150 in 2017.
He said during the year under review, the company was able to ensure improved staffing of all major departments and units.
