Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Stanbic IBTC Pension - Non-Interest Fund VI
Islamic Retirement & Pension in Kaduna
The non-interest RSA option from Nigeria's largest pension manager. Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers runs both Fund VI variants under PenCom's framework: an Active fund (up to 75% in Shariah-compliant variable income instruments) governed by a Wakala Bil-Istithmar arrangement, and a Retiree fund (maximum 10% variable income) applying Mudarabah principles. Zenith Pensions Custodian holds the assets. Published management fee is 1.6809% plus a ₦100 administrative charge. Full-year 2024 returns were 17.62% (Active) and 16.65% (Retiree) per Nairametrics' analysis of industry data, both above the 16.25% Active average. Any RSA holder can switch in free of charge once every 12 months via the MyPension portal, app or a branch form.
If you are moving your RSA to a non-interest fund, Stanbic IBTC is the reference option. It is the country's largest pension manager, it publishes what most PFAs bury (a 1.6809% management fee, the ₦100 admin charge, Zenith custody), and unusually it names the Islamic contract forms governing each sub-fund: Wakala Bil-Istithmar for active savers, Mudarabah for retirees. Returns have been respectable rather than spectacular, at 17.62% for the Active fund in 2024 against a 16.25% category average, mid-pack in 2024 rankings where CrusaderSterling led at 20.63%. The structural constraint is industry-wide: Fund VI portfolios lean on a limited pool of FGN sukuk and non-interest placements, so performance dispersion between PFAs is mostly about equity timing. Scale, disclosure and digital servicing make Stanbic the safe default.
Pros
- Nigeria's largest PFA, with published Fund VI fees and custodian details most rivals omit
- Above-average 2024 returns: 17.62% Active vs a 16.25% industry Active average
- Explicit Islamic contract forms disclosed (Wakala Bil-Istithmar and Mudarabah)
- Free switch via MyPension portal, mobile app or any branch
- Separate Active and Retiree funds keep risk age-appropriate
Cons
- Fund VI assets industry-wide remain a sliver of pension money, limiting instrument diversity
- Returns depend heavily on FGN sukuk supply; scarcity of non-interest instruments can force cash drag
- Switching back out is restricted to once per 12 months without charge
- No PFA-level named Shariah scholars beyond the FRACE framework certification
Start Planning
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Product Details
Structure
Non-Interest Pension Fund (Fund VI)
Best For
Employees and retirees who want their mandatory pension managed without interest by the industry's biggest PFA, with the clearest published fee and contract disclosure in the Fund VI market.
Screening Method
PenCom Fund VI Operational Framework: investment only in FRACE-approved non-interest instruments (government and corporate sukuk, Shariah-compliant money market, screened equities, Islamic funds); alcohol, gambling, weapons, pornography, speculation and interest-earning ventures excluded
Holdings
Active Fund VI: up to 75% variable income instruments; Retiree Fund VI: up to 10% variable income; balance in sukuk and Shariah-compliant fixed income
Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers in Kaduna
Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers's Stanbic IBTC Pension - Non-Interest Fund VI accepts Kaduna residents, structured as Non-Interest Pension Fund (Fund VI). Fund VI pension options are national: any RSA holder can switch by submitting a consent form to their PFA, with one free fund-type switch per 12 months. Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers operates across Nigeria, so Kaduna residents have full access to this product.
Our Take on Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers
For pension savers who want their mandatory contributions managed without interest, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers is the most documented option in Nigeria. It publishes what almost every rival withholds: the exact management fee (1.6809%), the administrative charge (₦100), the custodian (Zenith Pensions Custodian) and, uniquely, the Islamic contract governing each sub-fund, Wakala Bil-Istithmar for active savers and Mudarabah for retirees. Returns have been solidly above average rather than table-topping: 17.62% for the Active fund in 2024 against a 16.25% category mean, trailing specialist performers like CrusaderSterling (20.63%) and Trustfund (19.83%). Scale brings real advantages, including the industry's best digital servicing, daily published unit prices and the operational depth of Nigeria's largest PFA. It also brings the industry's constraints: Fund VI portfolios nationwide draw on the same limited pool of FGN sukuk and non-interest placements, so no PFA can fully escape instrument scarcity, and Shariah assurance everywhere is framework-level (FRACE certification of PenCom's rules) rather than firm-level scholar boards. If you value disclosure, digital convenience and institutional durability over squeezing the last two points of return, switch here.
How Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Works
Financing Structure
Stanbic IBTC's Fund VI operates under PenCom's Operational Framework for the Non-Interest Fund (2021), which FRACE certified as Shariah-compliant. Two ring-fenced funds exist: Active Fund VI (contributors; up to 75% Shariah-compliant variable income instruments) and Retiree Fund VI (retirees; up to 10%). Permissible assets are FRACE-approved non-interest instruments: government and corporate sukuk, Shariah-compliant money market placements, screened ordinary shares and Islamic alternative funds, with alcohol, pornography, weaponry, gambling, speculation and interest-earning ventures prohibited. SIPML manages active assets under a Wakala Bil-Istithmar (agency) arrangement and retiree assets on Mudarabah principles, with Zenith Pensions Custodian holding assets and PenCom supervising.
In-Depth Analysis
Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers (SIPML) administers more retirement savings than any other Nigerian PFA, and its implementation of PenCom's non-interest Fund VI is the reference version for the industry. The fund exists in the two variants PenCom's 2021 Operational Framework mandates: an Active fund for contributors, permitted up to 75% in Shariah-compliant variable income instruments, and a Retiree fund capped at 10% variable income for capital stability. Zenith Pensions Custodian holds the assets, preserving the PFA/custodian separation at the heart of Nigeria's pension safety architecture.
What distinguishes SIPML's offering is contract-level candor. Its change-of-fund documentation specifies that active members' money is managed under Wakala Bil-Istithmar, an investment agency contract in which the PFA acts as agent for a fee, while retiree assets apply Mudarabah profit-sharing principles. No other major PFA we reviewed names its fiqh structures at all. Pricing is similarly public: a 1.6809% management fee and ₦100 administrative charge appear on the RSA fund information page, where competitors typically disclose nothing beyond PenCom's generic fee caps.
Performance sits in the upper middle of the pack. Full-year 2024 delivered 17.62% for Active Fund VI, fourth among PFAs and comfortably above the 16.25% category average, and 16.65% for the Retiree variant, third-best. The leaders, CrusaderSterling at 20.63% and Trustfund at 19.83% on the Active side, ran heavier screened-equity exposure during a strong NGX year; Premium Pension topped retirees at 18.54%. Fund VI performance dispersion between PFAs is mostly an equity-allocation story because the non-interest fixed income universe, FGN Ijara sukuk above all, is common to everyone.
The industry backdrop matters for expectations. Nationwide Fund VI assets grew from ₦7.79bn at inception (September 2021) to ₦218.84bn by December 2025 and ₦369.6bn combined (₦342.9bn Active, ₦26.7bn Retiree) by April 2026, still under 1.3% of Nigeria's ₦30.9trn pension pool. That smallness cuts two ways: room for years of structural growth as awareness spreads, but also concentration in a narrow instrument set, with PenCom's framework capping government sukuk at 70% of the portfolio and demand chronically exceeding sukuk supply. PenCom's 2025 inauguration of the Pension Industry Non-Interest Advisory Committee (PINAC) signals regulatory intent to widen the pipeline.
Joining is deliberately easy and strictly voluntary: any RSA holder in Funds I-III (or Fund IV for the retiree variant) submits a switch request, at Stanbic via the MyPension portal, mobile app, email or branch form, and the transfer executes at the prevailing unit price, free of charge once per 12-month period. Members can likewise move back out later, so trying Fund VI is a reversible decision.
Shariah Compliance Details
- Fund VI management fee 1.6809% plus ₦100 administrative fee, custodian Zenith Pensions Custodian Limited, published on the SIPML RSA fund information page (verified 2026-08-04)
- Wakala Bil-Istithmar (active) and Mudarabah (retiree) contract structures stated in SIPML's Change of Fund Request documentation (verified 2026-08-04)
- Governing framework: PenCom Operational Framework for Non-Interest Fund (June 2021), certified by FRACE, restricting assets to approved non-interest instruments (verified on pencom.gov.ng 2026-08-04)
- 2024 returns of 17.62% (Active) and 16.65% (Retiree) per Nairametrics' January 2025 analysis of PenCom industry data (verified 2026-08-04)
How Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Compares
Against CrusaderSterling and Trustfund, Stanbic gave up two to three points of 2024 Active return in exchange for scale, disclosure and digital servicing; those PFAs ran more aggressive compliant-equity books. Against Access ARM, Stanbic publishes far more (fees, custodian, contracts) while Access ARM offers the smoothest online onboarding for switchers, including from other PFAs. Against Premium Pension, the choice splits by life stage: Premium's 18.54% led the Retiree category in 2024, while Stanbic's all-round package suits active savers. All PFAs share the same FRACE framework and the same FGN-sukuk-constrained opportunity set, so differences are execution and service, not permissibility.
Easiest online Fund VI switching and the second-best 2024 retiree return, with thinner fee disclosure
Best 2024 Active Fund VI return (20.63%) via heavier compliant-equity exposure, at smaller scale
Second-best 2024 Active return (19.83%) with a published, more conservative 55% variable-income cap
Bottom Line
Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers offers Nigeria's most transparent and operationally polished Fund VI: published fees, named custodian, explicit Wakala and Mudarabah structures, above-average returns and app-based switching. Growth-maximizers found better 2024 numbers at CrusaderSterling and Trustfund, but as the durable default for non-interest pensions, this is it.
Read full Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers reviewShariah Compliance & Oversight
Framework-level Shariah governance: PenCom's Fund VI Operational Framework is certified by FRACE, the CBN's Financial Regulation Advisory Council of Experts, which acts as the Shariah advisory board for non-interest pension matters. Stanbic IBTC applies Wakala Bil-Istithmar (active) and Mudarabah (retiree) contract principles per its fund documentation but does not publish an in-house Shariah committee for the fund.
2026-08-04
Why It's Halal
Fund VI is the only pension fund type in Nigeria whose governing rules are Shariah-derived end to end. PenCom's Operational Framework, itself certified by FRACE (the CBN's council of Islamic finance scholars, which serves as PenCom's Shariah advisory board for the fund), restricts investment to non-interest instruments: government and corporate sukuk, Shariah-compliant money market placements, screened ordinary shares and Islamic alternative funds, with explicit prohibitions on alcohol, pornography, weaponry, gambling, speculation and interest-earning ventures. Stanbic IBTC's implementation adds classical contract forms: the change-of-fund documentation specifies Wakala Bil-Istithmar (investment agency) for active members and Mudarabah (profit sharing) for retirees, which is more structural specificity than most PFAs disclose. Membership is voluntary and opt-in only, at the RSA holder's instance. What is not published is a PFA-level Shariah board for the fund, so scholarly oversight is effectively FRACE's framework-level certification plus PenCom supervision rather than an in-house committee with named members.
Regional Availability
Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers serves all of Nigeria
✓ Available nationwide including Kaduna
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Important: HalalWallet provides educational information and comparisons to help you explore halal financial options. We do not provide financial, legal, or religious advice. Product structures and Shariah compliance oversight vary by provider. Always verify halal compliance directly with providers and consult with qualified Islamic finance advisors or scholars for guidance on specific products and your individual circumstances.