NBM Pensions Administration Limited (NBM PAL) has declared an annual final bonus of 17% to members participating in NBM PAL Unrestricted Pension Fund for the financial year ending 31 December 2021.
NBM PAL Unrestricted Pension Fund is administered by NBM PAL and has a pool of several employers, who participate in the Fund for the benefit of their respective members of staff.
NBM PAL Chief Executive Officer, William Mabulekesi said in an interview yesterday that it is no longer a hidden secret to put on record that NBM PAL Unrestricted Pension Fund has been on a trajectory growth path as evidenced by declaring competitive Bonuses for the past years, compared to other Pension Funds in the industry.
He however hinted that the 2021 year’s top-notch performance, is largely attributable to the lucrative investment avenues where the pension contributions are locked in, resulting in decent investment returns therefrom.
“In this regard, members should expect their pension accounts to grow by 17% on balances as at 31st December 2021. This is a decent performance when looking at the fundamentals underlying the operating environment, which is still hostile and volatile on account of post pandemic spillover effects and the Russian invasion in Ukraine. The war largely has contributed to shortage of strategic commodities such as gas, crude oil and fertilizer resulting in unleashing inflationary pressures globally.” said Mabulekesi.
He also highlighted that the Fund declares a final bonus from an investment return achieved in that particular year, adding that their unique approach in managing the Pension Funds, enables them to achieve high investment returns, which enhance the pension benefits for the members.
“NBM PAL Bonus policy is unique in the sense that whatever has been declared, is allocated to members’ accounts, and this is an approach known as fully vested. This is in contrast to other players in the industry who retain part of the final bonus for economic smoothing in challenging years. Our commitment is to declare Bonuses, which are above annual inflation in a particular year. In this regard a decent 17% bonus is above the average 9.3% inflation rate for the year 2021,” explained Mabulekesi.
Recently, Nico Pensions declared a 14% bonus while Old Mutual declared an 11% bonus, according to published statements from the two companies in the media.