NICO Pension has declared a 14% bonus for the year 2021 on pension funds under the Ufulu Unrestricted Fund.
The return is an improvement from 2020’s 9.37% in the economy that has been affected by several issues, including disruptions cause by Covid-19 and rapidly rising inflation rate.
NICO Pension General Manager, Gerald Chima, made this statement on the sidelines of the online member information session held from the 25th to the 27th May 2022. He attributed the competitive return to the company’s ability to invest funds in ways that are most beneficial to its members.
“The growth of our clientele’s pension fund is our main concern. We therefore always ensure that the pension funds are invested in a prudent and proactive manner to ensure that the realized returns are always above the inflation, which was at 9.4% in 2021”, Chima said.
Chima added that the organization’s commitment to finding ways to benefit clients also contributed to the 2021 declaration.
Once declared the returns are guaranteed along with the contributions invested by members. This means that even in the event of a downturn in the economy, the contributed funds and declared bonuses cannot reduce and they are insured, and the insurer will come to cover any drop in value.
During the sessions, NICO Pension also informed members on the upgrading of its systems.
“We understand the need to keep up with the times. That is why we upgraded to a more robust pension administration system that allows straight through processing for claims and contribution allocation,” he added.
The pension administrator has also introduced a portal and a USSD platform that empowers members with control of their funds without having to physically visit the offices or fill in paperwork.
The USSD among other things, provides an account summary, claims documentation and an option to switch between accounts if one is a member of multiple pensions funds.
Members and Principal Officers can self-register on the Online Member Self Service platform, view contribution history, initiate a claim and track progress of a claim, among other services.
NICO Pension remains committed to being the one pension administrator that can be trusted by its members and to continue declaring competitive returns as it has in the past ten years.