Businesses bouncing back from COVID-19 should prioritise pensions---MD of Enterprise Trustees

Managing Director of Enterprise Trustees, the Pensions Subsidiary Of Enterprise Group, Mr. Joseph Ampofo

The Managing Director of Enterprise Trustees, the Pensions Subsidiary Of Enterprise Group, Mr. Joseph Ampofo, has reiterated the need for companies and businesses to put in place a better pension regime to their advantage even as they strive to bounce back from the ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Enterprise Trustees is also a listed financial services Group, with a heritage of over 94 years of experience.

According to him, generally, businesses picking up gradually is a sign of positive light with the coming of COVID-19 Vaccines to fight the pandemic.

"Retirement income security for Ghanaians is very key to us, as we seek to deliver solutions that seek to give people the Advantage in retirement," he said.

Mr. Joseph Ampofo was addressing a one-day virtual webinar dubbed ADVANTAGE WEBINAR – FOCUS ON PENSION INDUSTRY- Building Your Tier 3 Fund.

The webinar was meant among other things at sensitising the public on the TIER 3 PENSION FUND.

The platform also addressed the Overview of the Pensions Sector in Ghana; What the Tier 3 Pension Fund Scheme is about; pitfalls to avoid to Deliver the Retirement Income Security as well as the Enterprise Trustees Outlook for the Year.

He said COVID has created virtual engagement as an acceptable means of engagement amongst many more Ghanaians.

"As a result of this, we are seeking to leverage this to serve our clients and introduce our services to many more Ghanaians," he cited.

He further indicated that the TIER 3 Pension is a Provident Fund set up and contributed to by Employer/Employee or both or a Personal Pension Scheme set up by a Corporate Trustee duly licensed by NPRA into which contributions are individually received from persons.

"As an Employee, it provides additional opportunity to build a retirement fund and can be used a security to boost the opportunity to access third-party loans/mortgages for Employees. Also, as an Employer, it can be used as a retention mechanism for loyal and productive employees. Contributions up to 16.5% into a registered fund do not attract taxes and among others also offer another opportunity to raise funding for major developmental projects from the private sector," the MD of Enterprise Trustees revealed.

He also outlined some major pitfalls pension contributors should do everything possible to avoid in order to achieve a smooth pension for a secured future.

"Some of these pitfalls I have outlined include the sole reliance on mandatory pension schemes-company; missing out on the magic of compounding to defer a regular tier3; using your provident fund to pay off loans taken when changing jobs; enjoying large allowance which does not form part of pension monthly contribution computation; not checking your statements to track your monthly contributions as well as not updating your beneficiaries not having a documented retirement plan and reviewing at least yearly."

Touching on the overview of Pensions, he disclosed that currently there are 24 Corporate Trustees in good standing.

“Currently, there are 38 pension fund managers, 777 individual trustees, 16 pension fund custodians, 241 pension schemes, over 1.6M active members on SSNIT and Over 1.7M active members on private pension schemes”

He said the future is likely to see an increase in early retirement, improved pension payouts as more and more members of the new pension scheme become due for retirement.

"Many Ghanaians will belong to a pension scheme as the Regulator leads the campaign to get the informal sector hooked up on pension schemes," he concluded.

Enterprise Trustees is a Corporate Trustee in Good Standing by the Regulator, NPRA with assets under its management in excess of GH⊄4.5Billion

It serves over 5,000 companies and 570,000 participants. In 2020 it paid over GHC40m in Retirement Benefits to deserving retirees

It has also been a Member of the Ghana Club 100 consistently within the last four years.