The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | PATRICIA AKANKWATSA | UAP Life Umbrella Retirements benefits scheme held a hybrid Annual General Meeting on 16th June 2024 where they declared 12.7% interest.
The annual general meeting was opened by Ramlah Nantongo, on behalf of the scheme Trustee, KCB Bank who welcomed the online and the physical attendees of the meeting in addition to thanking them for making time for the meeting. She further introduced the service providers to the scheme.
In her address, she noted that the regulator of the scheme, Uganda Retirements, Benefits Regulatory Authority, has been handy in managing and making sure the scheme is running according to book. She further noted that as a trustee, they are interested in the day to day running of the scheme.
“Growth is expected in the region but as a trustee, we expect the funds to be invested in areas where returns shall be guaranteed. In conclusion, she said guaranteed that the member schemes are assured of a good service and the best returns,”
Speaking on behalf of the administrator and sponsor of the scheme, UAP Old Mutual Life Assurance Uganda Limited (now Old Mutual Life Assurance Uganda Limited) the Managing director, Patrick Kimathi noted that several institutions have already signed up to join the scheme and the Administrator is doing best to ensure that the scheme grows faster than the sector in general.
“As the Sponsor we are happy to note that the scheme membership in terms of participating employers has grown from Twenty (20) in 2015 to Fifty-Two (52) in 2022,”
The scheme has consistently declared annual interest above the market averages, which speak into the commitment of the scheme service providers to deliver. The funds are in good hands and the service providers will always do due diligence to provide favorable returns. The administrator of the scheme noted that in the year 2022, the scheme received 6 new members.
While addressing the member schemes, the fund manager to the scheme, Old Mutual Investment group highlighted that the Yields on short term paper dropped in Q4 2022 following moderation in inflation and an uptick in liquidity on the short tenors. We expect the yields to remain range bound at current levels. He further explained that the External factors, fiscal deficit and a slowly shrinking budget constraint augmented with expanding public debt to define the yield curve level across sH1‘23. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) increased the CBR to 10% in October to counter rising inflation. We expect the MPC to retain the rate at current levels in H12023.
The trustee closed the meeting by declaring the interest for the year 2022/2023 which is 12.27% and noted that despite the turbulent economic times, the scheme managed to give a double-digit return.
The UAP Life Umbrella pension scheme commenced in 2015 which about 15 members Under management. The fund is managed by 4 service providers that is, the custodian (Housing finance Bank), The trustee is KCB, Fund Manager is Old mutual investment Group, sponsor and administrator (UAP Old Mutual Life Assurance Uganda Limited). Over the years, the scheme has returned interest rates above the market averages, a factor that has been attributed to the investment decisions taken by the fund manager. For the year ended 2022, the scheme returned an interest of 12.27% for the member schemes. The UAP Life Umbrella Retirement Benefits Scheme is regulated by the Uganda Retirement Benefits Regulatory Authority.
