Axis Pensions Group has stated that the Coronavirus disease was impacting negatively on some aspects of investments but said the group will rely on its superior knowledge in investments to deliver optimal returns to clients.

The group’s Chief Investment Officer (CIO), Nana Wiafe Boamah, said that the pensions and investment institution would adopt a cautious attitude towards investment in the midst of the pandemic.

“We are going to remain very cautious about the general credit environment and therefore we do not plan to add so much to our credit and corporate bond portfolio, ” he said at the annual general meeting and an open forum for shareholders and stakeholders in Accra.

The virtual event brought together various stakeholders in the Axis Pension ecosystem, including as trustees, scheme members, custodians and representatives of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA).

The participants were taken through the 2019 audited accounts, the performance and other related issues of the respective schemes. The Axis Pensions Group is the second-largest private pension administrator in the country.

Mr. Boamah said as part of its desire to protect investor funds, the group had decided to take caution in what it invests in. He also encouraged “investors to have a long-term mentality.”

He explained that compounding of the group’s five-year annual growth showed that its performance outperformed that of the 364-days Treasury bill in the same period.

New innovations

Chief Executive Officer of Axis Pensions Group, Afriyie Oware, said due to the pandemic the group had changed its way of operations. “COVID-19 has disrupted the way we work and operate and the way we engage with others and so, as a business we also need to respond to the changing times,” he said.

He explained that things that were traditionally done physically had now been virtualised through digital platforms. “We are a business that takes seriously investor education. In the past, we meet customers face-to-face at their workplaces in large or small groups but now we are taking that to digital,” he said.

He noted that due to the digital-savvy nature of the group, the pandemic had not affected its relationship with customers. He said the group was rather using the opportunity to engage in financial literacy education to further help investors to manage their funds well.

“In the past, our focus was to provide our customers with the tools and information needed to better equip them for retirement but now we have introduced a new initiative to serve customers amid the outbreak of the pandemic in a better way.”

The CEO stated that the company had also set up a financial planning unit to assist customers with financial guidance on how to better manage their funds. “We are also reviewing our customer journey. We want to shift from physical engagement to digital,” he added.