Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) announced that the fund is in a financially sound position as it has sufficient assets to meet its liabilities, having recorded a funding level of 113,89% as of 31 March 2021.
This was announced at the launch of GIPF’s Statutory Actuarial Valuation Report for 2021, which indicates that the fund not only recorded a funding level increase of 100,7% since the previous valuation period but also an actuarial surplus of N$16,522 billion.
“This means that the fund is able to pay retirement benefits, death benefits, disability benefits and all other benefits that are stipulated within our rules,” the chairperson of the fund’s board of trustees, Nillian Mulemi, explained.
According to the report, the actuarial valuation revealed liabilities and reserves of N$118,960 billion, while the actuarial value of assets was N$135,482 billion. However, despite this surplus, Mulemi cautioned that the board of trustees have recognised that the fund is showing signs of maturity.
“This requires us to monitor our investments adequately and to implement tools that will assist us to mitigate the growing liability,” she added.
This was also highlighted by the chairperson of the fund’s Audit and Risk Committee, Faniel Kisting, who said that the actuarial valuation (which focused on the period from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2021) came at a time when there was “tremendous turmoil in the world”. Chief among the challenges that he highlighted was the Covid-19 pandemic.
“During this time, we saw many employees lose their jobs because of an acceleration of early retirement applications and large outflows from pension funds, while some pension funds also experienced a decrease in contribution revenues,” he said.
Kisting added that mortality rates also went up disproportionately, resulting in increases in claims of death and funeral benefits. He also mentioned that Covid-19 adversely impacted financial markets around the world causing a decline in investment returns and a decline in the asset value of funds.
Further emphasising that the fund was not immune to the impact of Covid-19, Kisting mentioned that the obstacles faced by the fund had a negative impact on the solvency and sustainability of pension funds around the world.
He explained that the board of trustees noted that the benefits paid to GIPF members and beneficiaries continue to exceed the contributions received and this could influence the future sustainability of the fund.
“This is mainly due to the increase in the number of pensioners as the fund continues to mature,” Kisting said.
Considering the shocks that came up during the valuation period, Kisting said that there was growing concern among the audit committee with regards to whether the fund will be able to pay members’ benefits – not just in that year, but in the future.
Currently, he said, the fund is also faced with the challenge of inflationary increases, which could have a massive impact on the soundness and sustainability of GIPF.
According to Kisting, the fund’s board of trustees, therefore, put sufficient measures in place to ensure the sustainability of the fund by adopting appropriate investment strategies. These measures, he said, are also intended to ensure a balance between cash availability to pay for benefits, while maximising investment returns to cover for contribution.
“The fund has managed to build a sufficient war chest in case of such future events through setting aside sufficient contingent reserves, which amounts to N$21,4 billion on 31 March 2021,” he added.
Kisting explained that these reserves include a longevity reserve, an employer contribution reserve, a data reserve and an AIDS reserve. According to him, these reserves are adequate to help the fund cover future shocks.
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