NICO Pensions, one of the country’s pension funds managers, has said the country has limited investment portfolios which cannot accommodate pension funds which now stands at over K1 trillion.

This was revealed during pension updates seminar in Blantyre organised by the pension funds administrator.

NICO Pension General Manager Gerald Chima, the markets are not sufficient to invest in the amount of funds that the pension industry has as even the stock market cannot accommodate all of it.

He added that while this was the case, fund managers are working towards creating markets that can be invested into

to keep the pension funds growing.

“We are developing new products and asset options so that we channel these funds where they can appropriately be invested into, but the economy and the financial sector need to grow to absorb these funds,” he said.

Chima added that NICO Pension organised the seminar in a bid to update client’s on market trends.

One of the clients, Kazumba Munthali, said the seminar was enlightening to both employers and employees and it has opened their eyes on some issues.

“We have understood that pension is important because we need to save money for the future in the event that we get old and retire from work or when something happens,” he said.

Similar seminars will take place in Lilongwe, Mzuzu and Mangochi in the coming week.

BY JUSTIN MKWEU – THE DAILY TIMES