February 11, (THEWILL) — To ease liquidity pressure, the Nigeria’s National Pension Commission (PenCom) has raised the allowable investment limits for ordinary shares across key Retirement Savings Account (RSA) fund categories.
The adjustment was announced in an addendum released on Monday, February 9, 2026, to the Revised Regulation on Investment of Pension Fund Assets originally issued in September 2025.
The move is aimed at improving asset allocation efficiency, especially with the noted absence of qualifying assets, especially in alternative assets.
PenCom said that the revision is a targeted response to implementation bottlenecks identified after the 2025 regulatory overhaul.
The Commission revised Section 9 of the regulation, increasing equity exposure caps for multiple RSA fund classes as follows:
RSA Fund I: 30% → 35%
RSA Fund II: 25% → 33%
RSA Fund III: 10% → 15%
RSA Fund VI (Active): 25% → 33%
The Commission said the changes take immediate effect and apply to all licensed Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and custodians.
According to PenCom, implementation challenges emerged following the 2025 regulatory update, particularly around new limits for ordinary shares, Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) bonds, and alternative assets.
Industry experts observe that a key constraint has been the shortage of qualifying alternative investment instruments, which has prevented PFAs from fully deploying funds within prescribed asset classes.
The Commission noted that this has resulted in the underutilization of investment limits and persistent excess liquidity within the pension system.
By expanding equity investment headroom, the regulator aims to provide PFAs with additional flexibility to allocate funds more efficiently while maintaining risk diversification across RSA portfolios.
Investment experts hailed the move as a well-thought-out initiative, stressing it would provide additional support to the equities market.
This adjustment comes against a backdrop of growing pension-fund assets, which exceeded N26 trillion as of October 2025, as managers diversify to capture higher returns, supporting both capital markets and retirement outcomes.
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