By Samuel Oyejola
Only a few companies would boast of the achievements of Premium Pension Limited, particularly because of the landmarks attained by the company within a decade of pension fund administration in Nigeria.
Premium Pension has grown from a zero level to a company with over N380 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM) since the company was incorporated in March 2005 with the sole aim of administering pension funds.
It was granted license by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) in December of the same year to commence full operation.
The Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) is poised to become the leading PFA in Nigeria while clinging to the vision of being a global player with the itching desire to achieve superior customer satisfaction in active and retirement life through best practices.
The services rendered by the PFA has been able to generate accolades resulting in well deserved awards and recognition.
Premium pension was the proud recipient of the BusinessToday Online award as the Pension Company of the Year in 2015 as a result of its exceptional insurance and pension delivery services hinged on the core values of care, integrity, transparency, ethics and professionalism.
These core values are generating efficient service to Nigerian retirees and their families and has placed Premium Pension on the pinnacle of excellence.
Premium Pension has also grown its total shareholder’ funds to N1.3 billion. In the latter half of 2015, the PFA was conferred with the Award for Mass Mobilisation of Pension Asset at the Commerce and Industry Awards by the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry( LCCI.)
Setting a grand record, the company paid over N87 billion to 33,000 retirees and next-of-kin of contributors in its portfolio between 2007 and 2015.
It is worthy of note that pension assets under the company’s management is in excess of N380 billion while pension enrollees are spread in over 1,000 organisations across the country under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
The company in 2015 adopted robust pension administration software to enhance its operations and has consistently posted return on investment of pension asset well above industry average and above inflation.
Also in 2015, the company introduced a mobile application known as the Premium Pension Mobile in response to the need for devices that would further close the gap between the company’s operations and its customers on the one hand and customers and their Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) on the other.
While there are other pension fund administrators in the country, Premium Pension became the first PFA to get the United Kingdom’s International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) certificate on information security management system by the British Standard Institute. Premium Pension got the ISO27701:2013 certification on information security management system.
According to the board chairman of the company, the achievement of ISO 27001:2013 certification is visible proof of the company’s commitment to meeting internationally-accepted data security standard.
“Premium Pension is the first among PFAs to achieve this feat which has been attained through hardwork and dedication of our board as well as management and staff who are seasoned professionals in the industry,” he said.
The PFA adopted the Canadian Pension Administration Software of CPAS Systems Incorporated in Canada. The company, being the technical partner of Premium Pension, is a global supplier of pension administration software in public and private sectors.
This company has been providing business process design and IT support to the operations of the company which is aimed at deploying world class pension administration software, to drive the company’s customer friendly processes.
The new CPAS is web-based and covers the entire pension management modules ranging from client administration, processing, funds accounting to investment management and benefits administration.
With a view to consolidating the process, relevant members of staff have been trained in Canada and have acquired special skills in the operations of the new application.
In the same vein, the company executed major infrastructural upgrade of Information Technology (IT) by acquiring modern storage system from the stable of HP, robust data protection system and disaster recovery gadgets.
Instructively, the Premium Pension Limited team is led by Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Wilson Ideva, a seasoned administrator, chartered accountant and experienced finance and administration professional of repute.
According to him, the certification demonstrated the company’s zeal to ensure the safety of its subscribers’ funds. He said further that the certification met the expectation of its RSA and Legacy Pension Funds owners who had entrusted their funds to the PFA.
“It further demonstrates our zeal to ensure the safety of your funds. For our board and management team, this is another indication and measure of our strong corporate governance anchored on global best practice,’’ he said.
