Small PFAs’ onboarding of RSA holders clog by market visibility, brand positioning, outreach

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Chuks Udo Okonta

Newly established and small Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) are struggling to onboard Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders owing to challenges in market visibility, brand positioning, and outreach, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) has said.

The pension industry regulator in its third quarter 2025 report submitted that the PFAs made only marginal contributions in RSA registration, stressing that in the third quarter of 2025, a total of 129,154 new Retirement Savings Accounts were registered by the 20 PFAs, with Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) issued across various sectors. “This reflects sustained growth in RSA onboarding, driven by effective regulatory oversight, heightened stakeholder sensitisation, and expanding market awareness,” it added.

PenCom noted that AccessARM Pension Managers Limited led with 29,487 new registrations, representing 22.83 per cent of the total. Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited followed closely with 27,847 registrations 21.56 per cent and that together, these two PFAs accounted for 44.39 per cent of all new RSAs during the period.

“Leadway Pensure, Trustfund Pension, and Premium Pensions followed with 10,657 (8.25 per cent); 9,108 (7.05 per cent) and 7,841 (6.07 per cent) registrations respectively. Collectively, the top five PFAs contributed 65.76 per cent of total registrations, underscoring the industry’s continuing concentration within a few dominant players.

“PFAs with lower registration volumes, such as Norrenberger, NLPC, Nupemco, Cardinalstone and Citizens made only marginal contributions. This reflects ongoing challenges in market visibility, brand positioning, and outreach, particularly among smaller or newer operators,” it stated.

PenCom maintained that the Q3 2025 registration trend reveals a competitive upper tier and a fragmented lower tier. While RSA growth remains strong, the concentration among a few PFAs underscores the need for broader industry participation through strategic innovation, inclusive engagement, and stronger grassroots and digital outreach.