At the moment a 16-year-old can open an account with the Fiji National Provident Fund however; this will be reduced the age of six soon.

This was revealed by the FNPF chief operating officer Jaoji Koroi during the annual member forum at FNPF Plaza on November 16, in Suva.

“The age will be reduced to six-year-old to allow younger children to start saving early. We need to change our internal system in order to accommodate for that,” Mr Koroi said.

During the forum attended by more than a hundred members, Mr Koroi announced a net profit of $359.5 million for the 2017 financial year ended June 30, 2017.

This is an increase of 8.4 per cent from the 2016 profit of $331.6 million and has been attributed to a strong performance of the Fund’s investment.

The Fund also achieved a record contribution collection of $546.2 million compared with $480.6million in 2016.

Total assets grew from $5.1 billion to $5.7 billion; with total members’ balances at $4.9 billion from $4.4 billion.

A lot of questions were raised with regards to the education assistance the fund provides.

In response, Mr Koroi said they are now increasing text book allowance from $200 to $400 per student for semester.

“We have also allowed members to access their funds for their parents, but we continue to have more questions on sponsoring other people outside the family.

“At the moment the allocation is up to your family only; your parents, your siblings and your children,” he said.

He advised members of the general public to talk to them when they face problems so that they can help.

One of the biggest challenges faced by FNPF now is for their members to increase their balance so that they do not suffer when they retire.

“When our members retire at the age of 55, we want them to enjoy their lives with ease.

“Working members can contribute another 12 per cent of their income to top up their balance.

“We need to make sure that all members have adequate balance to look after them when the time arises,” Mr Koroi said.

Future plans

Mr Koroi focused some of the key strategic priorities for 2017 to 2020 which are:

Looking at organisation corporate culture.

More digital engagement with our members and internally to improve our efficiency and reduce wastage.

Focusing at the core purpose of social security, such as medical funds, retirement funds and other security areas in place.

Investment diversification, to take more risks in terms to generate returns.

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