Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Review (2026): Fund VI, Fees and Service

Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited is the PFA that publishes the most about its non-interest funds, and that is the main reason a Fund VI switcher should start here. Its RSA Fund Information page lists, for Fund VI Active, a N100 monthly administration fee, a 1.6809% management fee and a 75% ceiling on variable income; for Fund VI Retiree, N53.75 monthly, 7.5% of earned income and a 10% ceiling. Its homepage shows 36-month compounded returns to September 2026 of 23.9930% for Fund VI Active and 17.8575% for Fund VI Retiree. The switch can be made in the app or on the My Pension Portal. What Stanbic does not publish is who provides Shariah oversight for Fund VI, and that gap is the one real mark against it.

Who Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers is

Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers is a licensed Pension Fund Administrator and a member of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, which is itself part of the Standard Bank Group; the PFA's about-us page describes the group as over 150 years old and the PFA as backed by 'strong and reputable financial institutions'. PenCom's register lists it with Olumide Oyetan as managing director, at Stanbic IBTC Tower, 6F Walter Carrington Crescent, Victoria Island, Lagos, and its own contact page gives 76 Adetokunbo Ademola Street, Victoria Island. The homepage claims over two million customers, which makes it the largest PFA by RSA count. Its pension fund custodian for every RSA fund is Zenith Pensions Custodian Limited.

For a reader coming from the retirement hub, the thing to understand is that a PFA does not hold your money. Contributions go to the custodian, the PFA decides how they are invested within PenCom's rules, and PenCom supervises both. Choosing Stanbic therefore means choosing its investment team, its fee disclosure and its service channels, not its balance sheet. Our provider profile of Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers carries the contact details; this review covers the Fund VI decision.

What Stanbic publishes about Fund VI Active and Fund VI Retiree

The RSA Fund Information page is the best fund-level disclosure of any Nigerian PFA we have read. For each fund it gives the administration fee, the variable and fixed income ceilings, the management fee and the custodian. Fund VI Active: N100 administration fee, maximum 75% variable income, implied minimum 25% fixed income, management fee 1.6809%. Fund VI Retiree: N53.75 administration fee, maximum 10% variable income, implied minimum 90% fixed income, management fee 7.5% of earned income. The same page carries a returns table with 2025 returns of 23.42% for Fund VI Active and 18.43% for Fund VI Retiree, three-year rolling averages of 18.49% and 16.24%, and three-year Sharpe ratios of 3.57 and 1.50.

Two things are missing. First, the page promises daily fund prices, but the version we fetched showed fees, ceilings and returns without a unit price table; the daily price is available after login on the My Pension Portal and the mobile app, and we could not read it from the public page on 10 September 2026, so we quote none. Second, there is no portfolio breakdown naming which sukuk or screened equities Fund VI holds. The audited accounts of the RSA funds are linked from the site and are the place to look for holdings.

The fees, and what they mean in naira

PenCom sets the fee structure for the whole industry; its Revision of the Fees Structure in the Pension Industry notice of 13 July 2018 is listed among the regulations on pencom.gov.ng. Stanbic's FAQ confirms the N100 monthly administration fee is 'approved by the National Pension Commission' and is deducted from contributions before investment. CrusaderSterling Pensions quotes the same charge as N107.50 inclusive of VAT on its homepage, so expect N107.50 to leave your contribution each month wherever you are.

The management fee is taken inside the fund before the unit price is struck. On a Fund VI Active balance of N10,000,000, a 1.6809% management fee is about N168,090 a year, against about N168,710 in Fund II at 1.6871%; the difference is negligible. For a retiree, 7.5% of earned income means that if Fund VI Retiree earns N1,500,000 on a N10,000,000 balance in a year, the PFA keeps N112,500 of it. That retiree fee structure is the same for Fund IV, so again the non-interest choice costs nothing extra.

How to switch to Fund VI with Stanbic IBTC

Stanbic's FAQ gives three routes, and all of them are self-service or near it. The switch is processed at the prevailing fund price on the date of movement, the whole balance moves, and voluntary contributions move with it because the RSA has one PIN. One switch in twelve months is free; the FAQ says further switches attract a PenCom-set fee and that you cannot switch more than twice in a year.

• Portal: log in to the My Pension Portal with your RSA PIN, email or mobile number and passcode, click Multifund switch on the dashboard and follow the prompts.
• App: open the Stanbic IBTC mobile app, go to Requests, then the Multifund Transfer request tab, and submit.
• Paper: download the multi-fund switch form, complete it, and send it with a valid ID to pensionsolution@stanbicibtc.com or hand it in at any Stanbic IBTC Pension office.
• Check that your data recapture is complete first; the transfer page says it is a precondition for RSA movements.
• Watch for the next quarterly statement, which should name Fund VI and show the new unit holding.

If you are moving your RSA from another PFA to Stanbic as well as into Fund VI, the transfer page states the Pension Reform Act 2014 allows one PFA transfer per calendar year, after data recapture, and that a retiree who has taken an annuity cannot transfer. Do the PFA transfer first, then the fund switch; our guide to switching your RSA to Fund VI sequences both.

Shariah oversight: what the site says and does not say

Stanbic's pages describe Fund VI as being for contributors who prefer 'ethical, non-interest-bearing instruments' and say the fund is managed 'with ethical considerations'. We found no page naming a Shariah adviser, an advisory committee of experts, a screening methodology or an annual compliance certificate for Fund VI. That does not mean there is none; PenCom's framework for Fund VI requires non-interest instruments, and the PFA's asset management affiliate names an Advisory Committee of Experts for its Shariah mutual funds. It does mean a contributor cannot verify the oversight from the pension website.

Ask Stanbic in writing who certifies Fund VI's holdings and how often, before you move a large balance. The answer should name the committee or adviser and say whether a compliance report is included in the audited accounts of the RSA funds. If the PFA will not say, that is itself information, and a PFA that discloses more deserves the business.

Branches, statements and self-service

Stanbic's transfer page describes 'a branch network spanning across the country', a multilingual contact centre, 'Pension-on-wheels', live chat and email, and the FAQ repeatedly refers to 'our branches nationwide'. The site does not publish a branch address list on the pages we fetched; the SMS short code returns office locations on request. Quarterly statements are sent by email and post in the first month of each quarter, with SMS balance alerts and a transaction notification on every credit.

The self-service page lists four channels. The mobile app shows balance, statement, six months of contribution history and biodata updates. The SMS short code 30388, used from your registered number, returns your PIN, statement, last contributions, balance, pension registration certificate, application status, passcode reset and office locations with single-word commands. The My Pension Portal handles balance, biodata and data recapture. The IVR on 02012716000, 02014631100 or 070000600700 offers benefit application status, RSA and voluntary contribution enquiries, passcode reset, statement requests, last three contributions, the registration certificate and sign-up for emailed quarterly statements.

Where Premium, Trustfund, CrusaderSterling and Access beat it

Disclosure of returns is the first contest. Trustfund Pensions publishes a 36-month compounded table for all seven fund types on its homepage, with Fund VI Active at 22.2836% and Fund VI Retiree at 20.1631% for August 2026; Stanbic publishes the same series, and its Fund VI Active figure is higher while its Fund VI Retiree figure is lower. CrusaderSterling Pensions markets Fund VI under its own name, 'Ethical Fund (Fund VI)', with a dedicated page, states its administration fee including VAT, and carries ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certifications and an Agusto AA- rating on its homepage. Our provider verdict notes its 2024 Active Fund VI return of 20.63% as the best result of that year.

Access Pensions publishes a client portal that returns unit price and RSA balance on demand, an IVR on 02012715000 and a WhatsApp assistant, which our verdict line rates as the most convenient Fund VI switching route. Premium Pension, founded in 2005 and headquartered in Abuja, had the thinnest public website of the five when we fetched it, though our verdict calls it the quiet outperformer of the non-interest retiree segment. None of the five named a Shariah adviser for Fund VI on the pages we read.

Verdict

For a salaried contributor in Lagos or Abuja who already has an RSA with Stanbic IBTC, switch to Fund VI Active in the app today; the fee is identical to Fund II, the published three-year return is higher, and the process takes minutes. Ask for the Shariah oversight disclosure in the same week and keep the reply. For a contributor at another PFA, moving to Stanbic is justified by its disclosure, scale and self-service, but not compelled by it: Trustfund publishes comparable numbers and its Fund VI Retiree has done better over the published three years, and Access makes the switch easier for people who dislike apps.

For a retiree choosing where Fund VI Retiree should live, compare the 36-month figures at Stanbic and Trustfund on the day you decide, remember that the 7.5% of earned income fee is the same everywhere, and weigh the service channel you will actually use at 70. The PFAs offering Fund VI compared ranks all of them, and the multi-fund comparison explains what Fund VI changes against the defaults. The providers directory lists every PFA we profile. Facts checked against stanbicibtcpension.com, pencom.gov.ng, trustfundpensions.com, crusaderpensions.com, accesspensions.ng on 10 September 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Does Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers offer Fund VI?

Yes, in both versions. Its RSA Fund Information page lists Fund VI Active with a 75% variable income ceiling, a N100 monthly administration fee and a 1.6809% management fee, and Fund VI Retiree with a 10% ceiling, N53.75 monthly and 7.5% of earned income. The custodian for both is Zenith Pensions Custodian Limited.

How do I switch to Fund VI at Stanbic IBTC?

Log in to the My Pension Portal and click Multifund switch, or open the mobile app, go to Requests and use the Multifund Transfer request tab. You can also email the signed switch form with a valid ID to pensionsolution@stanbicibtc.com or submit it at an office. The switch is processed at the fund price on the day, and one switch in twelve months is free.

What has Stanbic's Fund VI Active returned?

Stanbic's site shows a 2025 return of 23.42%, a three-year rolling average of 18.49% and a 36-month compounded return of 23.9930% to September 2026 for Fund VI Active. Fund VI Retiree shows 18.43%, 16.24% and 17.8575%. Past returns are not a forecast, and the PFA does not publish a daily unit price on the public page.

Who is the Shariah adviser for Stanbic's Fund VI?

The pension website does not say. We found no named adviser, committee, screening method or compliance certificate for Fund VI on stanbicibtcpension.com when we checked. Request the information from the contact centre or by email before committing a large balance, and ask whether the audited accounts of the RSA funds include a compliance report.

How do I get my RSA statement from Stanbic IBTC?

Quarterly statements are sent by email and post in the first month of each quarter. Between statements, send the word 'statement' by SMS to 30388 from your registered number, use the mobile app, or dial 02012716000 and press 4 on the IVR menu. Balances are also sent by SMS, and every contribution triggers a transaction notification.

Can I transfer my RSA to Stanbic IBTC and switch to Fund VI at the same time?

Do them in sequence. The Pension Reform Act 2014 allows one PFA transfer per calendar year, after data recapture, and a retiree who has taken an annuity cannot transfer. Once the RSA has arrived at Stanbic, submit the Fund VI switch through the portal or app; the first switch in twelve months is free.