Nigeria’s pension industry remains tightly concentrated at the top, with just five out of 18 licensed Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) accounting for 54.41 per cent of all new Retirement Savings Account (RSA) registrations in the first quarter of 2026 (Q1’26).

The figures come from the National Pension Commission’s (PenCom) Q1’26 industry report, which shows Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers holding onto its position as market leader, capturing 17.47 per cent of new registrations during the quarter on its own.

The Top Five

Behind Stanbic IBTC, the rest of the leading pack looked like this:

• AccessARM Pension Managers – 10.63%
• FCMB Pensions – 10.15%
• TangerineAPT – 9.65%
• Trustfund Pension – 6.73%

Together, these five firms controlled just over half of all new RSA sign-ups in the quarter, leaving the remaining 13 operators to share the other 45.6 per cent of the market among themselves.

A Slight Loosening of the Grip

Despite the continued dominance of the top tier, PenCom pointed out that concentration has actually eased somewhat compared to the previous quarter. In Q4’25, the top five PFAs controlled 62.11 per cent of new registrations — meaning their combined share has dropped by nearly eight percentage points.

Still, the Commission was careful to note that this doesn’t mean the market has suddenly become competitive. According to PenCom, the top five’s current share, though down from the previous quarter, still reflects an elevated level of market concentration.

Mid-Tier Players Are Shaking Things Up

One detail PenCom flagged as particularly notable is the emergence of TangerineAPT into the top five. The Commission described this as evidence that competition among mid-tier operators is heating up, and that the market’s pecking order is far from settled.

PenCom was quick to add that concentration at the top isn’t necessarily a red flag for the industry’s stability — but it does raise legitimate questions about how much real competition exists further down the market.

States Still Dragging Their Feet on Pension Reform

Beyond the PFA rankings, the report also took stock of how well state governments are implementing the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) — and the picture there is mixed at best.

Only eight states have fully complied with the CPS, meaning they’ve both passed the necessary legislation and started implementation through licensed PFAs.

A further 17 states have passed pension laws but haven’t yet begun implementing them — a gap PenCom says will be a key focus of its engagement efforts through 2026.

Kano State stands out as a special case: rather than working with a licensed PFA, it continues to keep its pension funds parked with commercial banks, which means it will need its own separate regulatory arrangement going forward.

For PenCom, the 17 states sitting in legislative limbo represent the biggest untapped opportunity to widen pension coverage across the country — if the Commission can get them to move from paperwork to practice.