By ROSEMARY ONUOHA

Managing Director/Chief Executive of Premium Pension Limited Mr. Wilson Ideva has said that there is need for increased public awareness of the workings, benefits and imperative of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) especially in the face of the current economic uncertainties. Ideva stated this while reacting to the award won recently as the pension company of the year by Businesstoday, an online news outfit in Lagos last week.

Ideva said, “The CPS is the only sure way to guaranteeing your future.” Mr. Paddy Ezeala, Head of Corporate Communication, who represented Ideva described the award as the reward for commitment, dedication and tenacity of purpose. He said that the award also underlines the solid and fecund relationship between the company and the media in the area of awareness generation on the workings and benefits of the pension industry.

Speaking on the awards, the MD/CEO of BusinessToday Online, Ms. Nkechi Naeche said the award which is in its third edition seeks out exceptional individuals, companies and states that have been outstanding in advancing the insurance and pension industries within a particular year.

She said Premium Pension was picked from the votes cast by the public and other considerations made by the award’s panel of judges. Naeche noted that as stipulated in the voting rules this year, 80 per cent of the votes were assigned to the public while a panel of judges made of experts possessed 20 per cent of the voting rights.

She added that Premium Pension won 2015 awards following its efficient services to Nigerian retirees and their families, adding that the  Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) provides an impressive range of pension products and services to its client-base across the length and breadth of the country.

In August 2015, Premium Pension Limited was conferred with the award for mass mobilization of pension asset, at the Commerce and Industry Awards by the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry, LCCI. In November 2015, it received the UK’s International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) Certificate on Information Security Management System by the British Standard Institute, becoming the first PFA in Nigeria to receive the certification.

In 2015 Premium Pension paid over N87 billion to retirees and next-of-kin of contributors under the Contributory Pension Scheme under its administration. The above figure was paid to a total of 33,000 retirees and relatives of deceased contributors in its portfolio between 2007 and 2015.

The company in 2015 adopted the robust pension administration software, the Canadian Pension Administration Software (CPAS) to enhance its operations and have consistently posted Return on Investment on 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 the customers and their Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) on the other.