Rebranding the Association of Pension Funds of Nigeria (APFN) - 021210

Rebranding the Association of Pension Funds of Nigeria (APFN)

December 021, 2010; 1020 hrs, Golden Gate, Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria

Ladies and Gentlemen,

When I received the invitation to present a paper at the members’ forum/award

ceremony of the Association of Pension Funds of Nigeria, I treated the matter with
some suspicion because I have serious reservations about my credentials regarding
matters related to pensions. It was my Chairman Mr. R. K. Tukuru, Council member
and honorary treasurer, who encouraged me to share my perspective ‘looking in
from the outside’.

I am a strong supporter of the APFN and also its competitor who recognises the
potential it possesses but has hitherto been unable to deliver on. It comprises of
accomplished professionals and managers of resources with a huge capacity for
delivering value and solutions to a wide range of stakeholders.

This role is better captured through the valuable contributions it made, working with
the Joint Tax Board (JTB) towards the promulgation of the Pension Reform Act 2004
and while serving on the Pension Review Commission set up by the Federal
Government. The volumes of well researched materials it submitted to the Senate
and Federal House of Representatives would attest to the richness of knowledge,
experience and capacity available in the association and it deserves our appreciation.

I have worked closely with a number of the APFN members in the past, most notably
in the areas of pre-retirement training and indeed, the service known as PROSHARE
today was informed by the realities of retirees I encountered during the numerous
sessions Mr. Rotimi OKPAISE and Total Nigeria Plc exposed me to.

Having spent over two decades working in various functions and having had the good
fortune to live and work in other climes that consider the issue of pensions and post
retirement wealth management a serious issue than we have given it here in Nigeria;
it appears that we must now go beyond the ‘footnote’ role it had played in the
past to one where it is positioned as a critical bridge between competence
development and market expansion.

Frankly it is quite humbling to be allowed to say these things, not least because of
the circumstances in which I stepped into this role – an outsider to the association
yet has had the privilege of training at least over 200 potential and eventual
pensioners and members without having any direct relationship with the association.

This irony perhaps best explains why I have chosen to focus my discussion strictly on
the issues that defines the APFN Nigeria deserves.

All my colleagues at Proshare are humbled by the opportunity and platform you have
given me whilst hoping that I will not say things that will interfere with your lunch. I
respectfully advice that you take some notice of I have to share today.

I imagine many in this room will have been following the developments in the capital
market with amused interest but quite sadly, it might not have occurred to you that
the capital market as we know it would have been dead were it not to be the funds
those of you here work had to generate and apply. Over 51% of the capital market
liquidity is supported by your industry and yet you have little say in how that market
is configured.

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 Rebranding the Association of Pension Funds of Nigeria (APFN) - 021210

This point however should not surprise or excite you. It simply serves to set the tone
– to jolt thinking towards the changing landscape in financial service delivery and the
organisation of professionals along new lines of effective leverage.

It is expected therefore that any talk about Rebranding (nay repositioning) would
include a radical paradigm shift beyond the traditional role of training, providing
knowledge support for policy decisions, and growing membership for subscription
purposes.

The emerging financial market space has opened a new vista of opportunity for
financial advisers, analysts and portfolio managers for which an association is needed
to rapidly harness structure and position an association or chartered institute that
will be relevant to the needs of the market.

This market is here – it is yours for the taking; and hopefully it equates to your
reason for choosing to rebrand.

Dealing with this new reality

May I quickly talk about the challenges of dealing with a fast changing market place,
the rebranding ethos and the response/obligations from members?

This is not another lecture on rebranding or the association – it is about the markets
and the professional competence gap created on the subject of market confidence in
the profession and the industry at large.

Earning and maintaining trust is central to what APFN stands for – that is a currency
almost out of circulation in our market/country at this time.

Crucial to that therefore is the need for any rebranding process to be designed to re-
establishing confidence in the industry’s ability to not only manage risk, regulate
market practices and provide for the future.

The Association – Why Rebrand!

The Association of Pension Funds of Nigeria (APFN) is the umbrella body for the
occupation pension fund established in 1986 with a simple mission to be the
foremost reference point in pension matters in Nigeria.

APFN members are expected to be drawn from the following groupings: Pension
Fund Administrators and Custodians, Investment Managers/Advisers, Trustees firms,
Stockbrokers, Insurance companies (Assurance – Life), Investment advisers,
Accounting and Auditing firms, analysts, Portfolio managers, Actuarial organizations,
Banks, Lawyers etc.

APFN equally admits individuals as members. These are individuals trained by the
Association in collaboration with the University of Lagos through a 12 weeks
conversion programme.

NB: As laudable as the mission is and as wide ranging as the possible membership
of the association is, it would be interesting to know of what percentage of the
individual groupings mentioned above are members.

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 Rebranding the Association of Pension Funds of Nigeria (APFN) - 021210

Certainly, I am not a member at this time and I do not know of many colleagues who
gladly indicate that they are members. But the good news is that this can change if
the APFN gets its rebranding and reposition agenda right.

It is obvious that there exist a disconnect between the realities of our market place
and the value proposition cum structure/position of the association before now.

This call for a paradigm shift in the proposition of the association and it is my belief
that this is what has inspired a shift towards a rebranding – as an euphemism for
change – i.e. to communicate a new order not just a change of guards.

The Message we want to hear!

I believe that Nigerians, without any study of the review and analysis of the realities
of the Pension Funds business in Nigeria (within a larger discussion about financial
advisory services) have an opinion about what should be done – and I am sure a few
of you here have as well.

Not to disappoint you, and giving consideration to what the President’s speech
addressed and indeed, the good work being done by the 8-man team led by Mr. Alabi
ADEBAYO, I will like to share my thoughts on the association we deserve in 2011 and
beyond.

The Association of Pension Funds of Nigeria appears to have been modelled after The
National Association of Pension Funds, UK; albeit - only in name.

The key success factor for the success of the UK association lies in the overall
acceptance of the association as the professional body that influences the
outcome of, and pro-actively shapes, UK pension policy in such a way that it
instils public confidence and provides leverage.

This very point would appear to form the very basis for the redefinition of what
constitutes the signposts of the association’s mission statement.

An association is known by the level of advocacy, policy engagement and

followership it is able to gather, sustain and deploy.

This ironically has to be done by the association in a convoluted financial market

place as we have here – and therefore calls for some creative adjustments to
manage the brand and its component parts. For if we cannot sell the brand and what
it stands for, we have only engaged in putting a new paint job on an old house.

This is akin to what happened when when APFN changed its name from the
Association of Pension Fund and Investment Managers (APFIM) to the current one –
APFN.

So what does this new Rebranding effort seek to deliver beyond bringing all
practitioners in the pensions industry into its fold?

What is the shelf life of the configured association? Better put, what is your vision of
the market place?

Our vision of the future market place (sometimes defined by a limited expectation of
the overbearing macro environment) often clouds our determination of these
imperatives defining the objectives we set for ourselves – which dovetails into the

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funding matrix created by the functional organs created, sphere of influence,

ownership of responsibilities, scope of operations, structure, processes and
engagement priorities.

Some things to Consider - The New Association

1. Leveraging Imperatives – The APFN must identify and collaborate with
PENCOM and seek to offer its services as the preferred education &
enlightenment platform for all pension related issues. To discharge this, the
association needs to expand its communications and media network to enable it
shape, define and engage the market on a consistent basis.
2. Market Gap – filling the market gap that is now crying for a body to co-ordinate
key financial service providers in the new market that has evolved (including
members from other professional bodies) would be a daunting task that it can
bridge by reconfiguring its name to one that provides a home for all those that
have seemingly been excluded in a deserving professional body.
3. Legal Structure – In processing the change of name and Memart with the
Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), it could be better serve to use the UK
template with slight modifications, such that allows it to be able to fulfil the role
of both local, regional and international facilitators in the pension business.
4. Digital Processes – the APFN at present functions as an analogue association in
a digital age. The website is not only a virtual residence of the association but a
facilitator of market needs and a key component of the brand equity. The new
website must as a matter of necessity not only contain corporate details such as
directory of members, associations training programmes, registered facilitators,
research materials and training aides but also have deployable tools and aide
memoiré for use by operators and individuals alike. Simply imagine how good it
would be if as a company I can make use of the APFN website to determine my
personal pension calculations, use other tools for my company, check compliance
in there through an easy to fill checklist and also be able to identify training and
knowledge gaps through the self assessment tools in there. This is not a gimmick
but a fundamental requirement in the value chain requirement for an
organisation seeking to establish value and relevance.
5. Training Collaborations – It is high time we find a way to regulate the pensions
and early retirement training programmes that is offered as public programmes
and as in-house engagements. Not just to create jobs for the boys but to
standardise the industry training basics – each firm would then have to
differentiate themselves in terms of value added, style and delivery. The
association not only increases relevance, promote co-operation in the industry
and provide exposure to members who volunteer to support training firms in their
work.
6. Professional Liaisons and Strategic Partnerships – To create growth – this
opening has to be explored and a structure provided to allow related service
firms, the media, advertisers and others to leverage off the association.

Conclusion
I promised not to take your time.

As I said at the outset, this is a generation responsibility you have embarked upon
with serious implications on the financial markets but most importantly on the lives
of individuals. It will extend to product development consultancy, research and
surveys, due diligence and most importantly – a start early campaign for financial
advisory services, affiliations with other bodies, pensions and early retirement
planning.

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 Rebranding the Association of Pension Funds of Nigeria (APFN) - 021210

I acknowledge that my contributions could have been more detailed but I have tried
to do the right thing – present a vision of tomorrow and allow the members to see
what is possible.

Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for listening.

Olufemi AWOYEMI, FCA

Founder/CEO Proshare Nigeria Limited
www.proshareng.com
ceo@proshareng.com
Tel: 00234 803 628 8637

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