The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has announced plans to introduce additional guidelines to ensure that retirees' funds and annuities remain secure and effectively managed and to boost consumer confidence.
This was disclosed by Mr Moruf Apampa, vice chairman of the publicity sub-committee of the Insurers’ Committee and managing director of NSIA Insurance, during a press conference in Lagos following the June 2025 Insurers’ Committee meeting, according to a report on nairametrics.com. The Insurers’ Committee, which includes industry executives and NAICOM officials, serves as a collaborative platform for policy development, regulatory enhancements, and sectoral growth strategies.
Mr Apampa said, “NAICOM is coming up with additional guidelines to ensure that annuitants are actually protected,” he added. The regulator is taking proactive measures to ensure 1) that no insurance company goes under, or 2) annuitants are paid their normal annuity payout, he added. These guidelines will be released soon.
The additional guidelines follow new regulations on annuities that took effect from 1 February 2025. Among various provisions, this earlier set of regulations stipulates:
- An insurance company intending to carry on annuity business shall have at least one qualified actuary who shall take statutory responsibility for Assets-Liability Matching (ALM) analysis and the implementation of ALM measures by the investment team of the company.
- An insurer that does not have an in-house qualified actuary, shall arrange for a qualified actuary from an external actuarial firm to take on the ALM responsibility on its behalf for an interim period of no more than two years, subject to the Commission’s approval for an extension for two or more years, thereafter.
- The Nigerian Actuarial Society's (NAS) Standards of Actuarial Practice (NSAP) on Annuities shall guide the pricing, valuation and ALM reports of annuity portfolios.
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An insurance company shall ensure regular but not less than monthly meetings between the actuarial and Investment functions of the company to discuss ALM reports and implementation.
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An insurance company shall also ensure that the Asset/Liability Committee (ALCO) reviews regularly the following, at a minimum, every quarter:
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The current ALM position and comparison to the position at the time of the last meeting; and
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Any identified ALM breaches, actions being taken to remediate breaches as well as any measures being put in place to prevent a recurrence of said breaches.
- The board of directors of the insurance company shall be responsible for ensuring strict compliance.