Fund Manager's Report

At the December Monthly Bond Auction, the Debt Management Office (DMO) offered a total of N460Bn with total allotments at c.N596.47Bn, across the 17.945% FGN AUGUST 2030, and the 17.95% FGN JUNE 2032 papers allotted at marginal rates of 17.20% and 17.30%, respectively

Similarly, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), conducted the last NTB auction of the month by issuing 91-day (Offer: ₦100.0bn; Subscription: ₦100.63bn; Sale: ₦100.01bn), 182-day (Offer: ₦100.0bn; Subscription: ₦22.66bn; Sale: ₦22.07bn), and 364-day (Offer: ₦500.0bn; Subscription: ₦1,385.76bn; Sale: ₦581.99bn) instruments with stop rates of 15.5000%, 15.95000%, and 17.5100%, respectively.

In December, the NGX-ASI grew by 8.43% to 155,613.03 points, and YTD performance reported 51.19% (previously 39.44%), while market capitalization increased by 8.86% to ₦99.376tn. This highlights investor optimism, supported by macroeconomic reforms, stronger corporate earnings, and rising liquidity inflows into equities.

Also, the NGX Pension Broad and NGX-30 indices registered gains of 59.72% and 48.81%, respectively. Commencing the year at 1,826.89 points and 3,811.94 points, they concluded the year at 2,917.84 points and 5,672.72 points, respectively.

Furthermore, other corporate disclosures during the month are as follows: Listing of Chapel Hill Denham Management Limited’s Series 11 Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund of 140,100,000 Units of N100.00 each at N109.50 each under the N200 Billion Issuance Program, and Listing of NGX30M6 and NGXPENSIONM6 Futures Contracts on Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), among others.

The chart below shows the trend of the NGX ASI and market capitalization:

In December, the naira appreciated by 0.76% m/m to N1,435.76 against the US dollar at the official window, bolstered by the latest FX sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to strengthen the currency market aggregate supply. Also, it appreciated by 0.41% m/m at the parallel market, closing at ₦1,470.00/$1.00.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's foreign exchange reserves grew by 1.97% m/m to close at $45.49 billion as of December 30, 2025. Next year, we expect Naira stability due to elevated oil receipts, strong oil output, and rising non-oil exports, which will boost reserves. However, risks include lower global oil prices, security challenges, and production disruptions.

Find below the key economic indicators for your perusal:

The Asset Allocation and performance of our NLPC PFA – RSA Fund I as at 31st December, 2025 stood as follows:  

Quoted Equities 10%, Government Securities 60%, Money Market 22%, Cash & Others 8%. The unit price grew from N2.0737 in September, 2025 to N2.1463 as of 31^st December, 2025; translating to a year-to-date and an annualized return of 19.17%.

The Asset Allocation and performance of our NLPC PFA – RSA Fund II as at 31st December, 2025  stood as follows:

Quoted Equities 10%, Government Securities 55%, Money Market 20% and Cash & Others 15%. The unit price grew from N8.1784 in September, 2025 to N8.4198 as of 31^st December 2025, translating to a year-to-date and an annualized return of 17.79%.

The Asset Allocation and performance of our NLPC PFA – RSA Fund III as at 31st December, 2025  stood as follows:

Quoted Equities 7%, Government Securities 66%, Money Market 18% and Cash & Others 9%. The unit price grew from N2.4383 in September, 2025 to N2.5061 as at 31^st December, 2025, translating to a year-to-date and an annualized return of 15.13%.

The Asset Allocation and performance of our NLPC PFA – RSA Fund IV as at 31st December, 2025  stood as follows:

Quoted Equities 2%, Government Securities 63%, Money Market 26% and Cash & Others 9%. The unit price grew from N7.0722 in September, 2025 to N7.2886 as at 31^st December, 2025 translating to a year-to-date and an annualized return of 14.24%.

The Asset Allocation and performance of our NLPC PFA – RSA Fund V as at 31st December, 2025  stood as follows:

Quoted Equities 7%, Government Securities 6%, and Money Market 87%. The unit price grew from N2.0537 in September, 2025 to N2.1444 as of 31^st December, 2025 translating to a year-to-date and an annualized return of 24.81%.

The Asset Allocation and performance of our NLPC PFA – RSA Fund VI - Active as at 31st December, 2025  stood as follows:

Quoted Equities 3%, Government Securities 53%, Money Market 33% and Cash & Others 11%. The unit price grew from N1.8691 in September, 2025 to N1.9526 as of 31^st December, 2025 translating to a year-to-date and an annualized return of 22.57%.

The Asset Allocation and performance of our NLPC PFA – RSA Fund VI - Retiree as at 31st December, 2025  stood as follows:

Quoted Equities 0%, Government Securities 63%, Money Market 27% and Cash & Others 10%. The unit price grew from N1.6616 in September, 2025 to N1.7362 as of 31^st December, 2025 translating to a year-to-date and an annualized return of 21.92%.

• Trade policy uncertainty has become a major source of global instability as sudden shifts in tariffs, subsidies or restrictions fuel volatility. The path forward for the global economy will be determined by how challenges are confronted and opportunities adopted. That said, we expect increasingly divergent growth and risk patterns across regions in 2026.

• Africa's 2026 economic outlook is cautiously optimistic, with forecasts predicting accelerated growth (around 4.2-4.4%) driven by rebounding commodity prices, policy reforms, strong domestic demand, and a weaker dollar, positioning it as a global growth leader, though challenges like debt, climate shocks, and political instability persist, requiring improved governance and infrastructure to fully unlock its potential.

• In the domestic market, Nigeria’s inflation is expected to decline going forward, supported by sustained monetary policy tightening, a stable exchange rate, increased capital inflows, and a surplus current account balance. In addition, the relative stability in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and improved food supply, supported the pace of disinflation. Thus, we project that interest rates may likely drop further in the coming period.

• We expect the sentiments across the financial market to be positive in the coming period, especially in the equities market, as more investors take positions in anticipation of impressive Q4 results, and corporate benefits. In view of the expectation that interest rates may go down in the fixed income market, we expect the buying sentiment to be sustained at the mid and long end of the curve, as economic data is looking good, which should prompt MPC to continue its business-friendly expansionary monetary policy going forward.

• ur strategy in the coming period would be to increase our exposure to fixed-income securities, most especially at the mid and long ends of the yield curve, and scale up our exposure to variable income securities, at the same time, ensuring we balance risk and opportunity while diversifying across different asset classes, not discarding our responsibilities of meeting all financial obligations as and when due..