It has also sensitised over 1,500 customers on pre-retirement arrangement, to ensure that they do not have a painful and regrettable life after their active service.
This was noted by the Executive Director, Investments , Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, Dele Sotubo, when he spoke, at the weekend, during a sensitisation pre-retirement programme in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
According to Sotubo, “Everything about pension is based on trust. And, when you talk about trust, you look at the pedigree of the people you are dealing with. Stanbic IBTC Pensions belongs to the Standard Bank family and has existed for 155 years. So, we have a good heritage behind us.
“It is also that the commission that is in charge of pension administration in Nigeria, has put in place very clear and strict guidelines, as to how pension funds should be managed. So, it is clearly stated what you can invest in, how you should invest.
“As it is today, if anybody mismanages pension fund that we have today, under the CPS (Contributory Pension Scheme) scheme, that director is liable to go to jail and to forfeit everything that he has. The fund is being managed under strict guidelines.
“Under the CPS scheme, there is no kobo that has gotten lost and that would get lost. We are bold to say it is not just a case of what PENCOM is doing. For us as Stanbic IBTC, we have a good heritage; and we have everything working good for us”, he assured.
According to him, employers should realise they stand to benefit when they play they make their on contribution in the scheme.
Sotubo stated: “The benefit for an employer is the fact that, every contribution towards pension is tax free. It is a form of tax savings for an employer.
“At the event today, we have at least 1,500 of our customers that attended the forum. Why we put this event together is because we have realized that Nigerians, when asked to do something, would wait for the last minute before they start planning.
“This has affected many people negatively because it is the date after their retirement that they would come to ask for their money. The question to ask is, before retirement, have you done what you should do about your pension scheme?
“That is why we said for interest of people working in public sector, there are things they need to do, to ensure that their records are up to date. Your date of birth is current; everything you should have in your records are.
“The people we have in hall today are close to retirement. They are aged. They are people that have about two years to retire. So, they should start working to ensure that their records are in order. They must make sure the information they have in their pension account is same as the information their employers have, and the same information PENCOM has. If that does not correlates, it causes delay on processing the pension.
“That is why we decided to sensitize our customers that, it is not only about how they get their pension, but, also about their health. You would agree with me that when people retire, within a short time, their health changes. This is because they failed to prepare and know to live after retirement”, Sotubo noted.
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