While speaking to a group of customers in one state
in Northern Nigeria around 2012 on an interactive session with a higher
institution of learning in that state, a customer ask one vital question that I
will never forget. And it went thus, where is my investment directed? ,
continuing he opined that he do not want his pension investments on brewery
related products based on his religion conviction. For complete ten minutes,
there was a complete quietness.
In my reaction, I decided to be political about it,
as any how reaction may cause tension, my final reaction was that the
controlling body will work out
modalities for such if such need becomes
more important and is generally requested by majority of the customers, noting
those that are in charge of the scheme are also part and parcel of us and may
belong to various religious body. Adding that I will take his question to the
higher authorities.
In a similar situation while attending a workshop
in Lagos in 2015 for public sector, such question reechoed again , there was a
tense atmosphere. Reacting then a Nation pension Commission representative,
noted that the commission is working out modalities for such, noting that if completed, it will ensure that customers who
want such arrangement will be
considered, adding that they are working
also in bringing out investment age band
which will ensure that those that are young and have longer time to retire may
have their fund investment in high yield instruments , noting that such
instruments are highly volatile., middle age on semi volatile and those about
to retire will have its fund invested in low yield instrument with non
volatility , adding that the higher the risk, the high its return on investment
(ROI) and the lower the risk the lower the returns.
Tom Macphail in 10 costly Pension Mistakes noted
that “If you have a pension, have you ever reviewed it? Millions of people
haven't. Moreover, recent research revealed more than two in five adults (41%)
- 8 million people - cannot remember how their pensions are invested. Why is
that alarming? Performance can vary quite dramatically across investments and
even a seemingly small difference could have a significant impact on the size
of your pot” Continuing he stated that these are just projections. Investments
will not always go up in value, they also go down, so you could get back less
than you invested; what is certain is that they won't perform as predicted.
Also, these values are in today's terms, without considering inflation, which
will reduce the spending power of your money over time “According to several
researches, people invest for two basic reasons; they are follows, to make
provision for old age and to be wealthy. Being wealthy is a function of the
state of mind of the owner and the generosity of the individual.
So many people cling to their money as if their
life depends on it. While some are willing to give almost half of their
possessions but that is not our subject of discussion. Venita Van Caspel
according to schuller noted while
studying investment “heard a very startling statistics of every people reaching
age 65, only 2 percent were financially independent” continuing Schuller op cited opined that Venita was
raised in a Christian home without money, which she claims gave a health respect for a dollar.
Therefore it all portends that even though we value
money , some are interested in accumulation of fund , some are skeptical of
where their investments are going, some are more interested in meriting heaven
than in the accumulation of fund. But the
majority are more interested in having for their investment.
How then do PFAs do a thorough job in beefing up
the unit value for their investment, though PenCom has stringent investment
policies guiding investment but the onus lies on the PFAs in carrying out
appropriate investment strategies in realizing the basic objective of the majority
who want a fair value for their money.
To be continued.....
To be continued.....
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