Wednesday, October 27, 2021   / 1:20 PM / by CSL Research / Header Image Credit: CSL Stockbroking

In the recently released monthly report of the National PensionCommission (PENCOM) for the month of August 2021, Net Asset Value grew 0.9%m/m. There were however some re-arrangements in the portfolio of assets held byPension Fund Administrators in August. While positions in equities (down 1.5%m/m) and mutual funds (down 69.8% m/m) declined between July and August, PFAsincreased their holdings in FGN securities (up 1.1% m/m), corporate debtsecurities (up 0.3% m/m) and local money market funds (up 0.7% m/m) in theperiod. We observed that the improved traction for Fixed Income (FI)Instruments in Q3 2021 was driven by the expectation of contracting yieldswithin the space.

Analysis of investments in FGN Securities, showed that of the sixsecurities under the segment, only Agency Bonds recorded a marginal (up 7.1%m/m) growth from N13.54bn in July to N14.51bn in August. In addition, investmentsin the local money market were mixed. While bank placements reduced by 2.3% m/mfrom N2.11bn in July to N2.12bn in August, PFAs ramped up their commercialpaper position, up 101.1% m/m from N62.26bn in July to N125.17bn in August. ForMutual Funds, the PFAs significantly divested from the Real Estate InvestmentTrusts (REIT) positions, evidenced by the 96.8% m/m slide in their holdings toN2.63bn. The PFAs also reduced their positions in open/close-end funds by 1.2%m/m from N32.87bn to N32.49bn in the period.

Looking ahead, we expect the September report to showthe same trend as seen in August, given that market conditions have remainedrelatively stable - expectations of yield contraction are still rife making the FGN securities even more attractive. Specifically, weexpect PFAs to tilt towards holding long term FGN Securities for trading.

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