Formulated by the National Pension Regulatory Authority, the new pension investment guidelines, which was introduced in 2020, was aimed at opening up the investment guidelines from the traditional government securities and bank securities to alternative investments.

As such, the new guidelines added investment products such as private debt funds, repurchase agreements, direct real estate investments, project finance, and green bonds.

Speaking at the 10th anniversary launch of Old Mutual Ghana, the Assistant Manager, Standard and Compliance Directorate at the NPRA, Edward Biney, said pension fund managers were yet to fully take advantage of the new guidelines to diversify their investments.

“We encourage pension fund managers to take advantage of the new guidelines that seek to open up the investment guidelines.

The authority has provided room for pension funds to go into alternative investments and, especially, in these times that we don’t know where to take the money to, there are alternative investments like private equity, private debt and direct real estate investment,” he said.

He said the NPRA had already received some proposals for real estate investment and had approved them.

“We want to see the real impact of pension funds in the economy,” he said.

Role of pension funds 

The Chief Executive Officer of Old Mutual Ghana, Tavona Biza, said the role of pension funds in an economy could not be overstated as it was one of the tools for driving long term investments in an economy.

“If we are looking at developing the country, when it comes to infrastructure, road networks, we are not looking to borrow money for 10 or 15 years, we are looking for money on the long term and this is where industries like pensions and insurance comes in to lay the ground work,” he stated.

Commenting on Old Mutual Ghana’s 10th anniversary, he said as a 178 year old Pan-African integrated financial services company, the company had been able to lean on the learnings and experiences both from the populace in Ghana and from its sister companies.

He said this had helped it to organically grow and provide the relevant services and solutions to its customers in Ghana.

“Establishing and maintaining strong relationships with our key stakeholders while adapting to our environment over the years has seen the company successfully grow and gain a foothold in the Ghanaian market,” he stated.

Anniversary  

The year-long anniversary celebration would focus on driving major stakeholder engagements to bring Old Mutual closer to Ghanaians.

Activities lined up for the celebration include a customer appreciation week every quarter; regional celebrations across eight cities; major financial education projects across all channels; a wellness programme for current and potential customers, and stakeholder and customer awards night to crown the celebrations.

The anniversary is being celebrated on the theme: 10 years of Greatness, Here for a lifetime’.