Nigeria’s apex capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has set a deadline of September 30, for compliance with new rules on collective investment schemes (CIS).
SEC had in December 2019 issued rules on CIS, otherwise known as mutual funds, to strengthen effective management of the portfolios.
According to SEC, all fund managers of collective investment schemes are required to comply with the provisions of the new rules and file evidence of compliance on or before September 30, 2020.
The Commission stated that the application of the new total expense ratio and incentive fee computation takes effect from the beginning of July 2020.
“Incentive fees should not be factored into total expense ratio computation and shall be assessable and payable on an annual basis,” SEC stated.
SEC also requested the Fund Managers Association of Nigeria (FMAN) to submit acceptable benchmarks for Money Market Funds, Balanced Funds and Ethical Funds at the beginning of each year commencing third quarter of the year.
Total net asset of collective investment schemes and funds in Nigeria stood at N1.322 trillion, rising by N539 billion or 68.8 per cent from N782.64 billion on May 31, 2019 to N1.322 trillion by May 31, 2020.
CIS, also known as mutual funds, are joint investment vehicles through which investors pool funds and invest in chosen basket of securities to optimise returns and reduce risks. Mutual funds are typically managed by SEC-registered fund management firms alongside other professional parties such as trustees and custodians that provide additional supervision on the fund management.
NAV is determined by subtracting total liabilities of a fund from its total assets. It can further be divided by the total number of units of the fund to determine the unit price. At the last count, total liabilities amounted to some 0.68 per cent of the total assets of mutual funds. (The Nation)
