Capital Market B4 Bonny Amadi Dr. Ore Sofekun, President, Fund Managers Association of Nigeria said recently during an interview session with capital market stakeholders in Lagos that Ponzi scheme popularly known as MMM investing in Nigeria represents a fraud. She said that the investing scheme is fraught with visible dangers, hence the instruments and even the promoters are neither regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC0 nor the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Wikipedia defines a Ponzi scheme as a fraudulent investment operation where the operator, an individual or organization, pays returns to its investors from new capital paid to the operators by new investors, rather than from profit earned through legitimate sources.
Daily Times Nigeria Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Ponzi scheme investment worsens economic woes Ï ƠƊƆƉƉƆ MƆ ƄƍƆ ƄƎ Ǝƍ ƋƋƄƕ Operators of Ponzi schemes usually entice new investors by offering higher returns than other investments, in the form of short-term returns that are either abnormally high or unusually consistent. Meanwhile, Dr. Sofekun urged Nigerian investors not to be trapped by high short term profit margins as this usually serves as bait to defraud unsuspecting investors. The dangers of falling to Ponzi scheme, according to her, is worsening economic challenges and erosion of investible funds. “It will be fair to invest in a company that is listed on the Stock Exchange” adding that investment
in a company that is not listed, it is prone to higher risks and erosion of investment capital. She recalled that a lot of people had lost their lives when eventually they discovered that their investment option was a fraudulent front. “People are taking that risk, yes! I understand, but imagine that more are investing in it and that they will certainly lose their funds. “It is not ideal that people continue to put their money where it is not safe. She counselled investors to always invest in instruments that are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), than to invest on instru-
L-R: Afolabi Olorode, Deputy Director and Head, Financial Advisory; Lolade Sasore, Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications receiving the award for Best Local Investment Bank in Nigeria and Best Asset Manager in Nigeria on behalf of FBN Capital from Christopher Moore, Publisher & CEO EMEA Finance at the 2016 African Banking Awards, at Le Méridien Piccadilly in London, on Monday.
Nigeria’s equities market resumed trading activities on Tuesday, following the Eidel Maulud holiday observed on Monday, to continue upward movement recorded from previous sessions. Overall performance which was largely driven by a growth of 6.3 percent in oil and gas index, buoyed by a significant interest in oil stocks such as Seplat, Forte Oil, Oando and Total is not unconnected to the surge of oil prices recorded on Monday following the global output cut deal. Oil prices shot up over four percent to their highest level since 2015 early on Monday to $58pb and held steady above $55bp on Tuesday, following the reduced output by OPEC and other oil producers for the purpose of reigning in
Sofekun
the importance of the popular Ponzi scheme.
Summary of activities on NSE ASI DEALS VOLUME VALUE CAP
26,071.16 2,885.00 376,698,830.00 2,411,861,997.09 8,970,470,816,291.45
Continental Re appoints Ajibola as non-executive chairman
Oil Stocks record 6.3% growth, lift equities market by N87.2 bn Afolabi Adesola
ments that is not regulated, which even their owners are not known and without verifiable address. Principal Partner, Matog Consulting and a senior stock broker, Matthew Ogagavworia, said that he had always counseled people that the MMM Ponzi scheme is a fraud “I told some who came to me with the MMM bogey that it is scam, they doubted” Meanwhile, it has been reported that the ongoing MMM Ponzi scheme in Nigeria which its website has been blocked, has over 2 million Nigerians on its investment platform. Mr. Sergey Mavrodi, founder of MMM, wrote an open letter to the Nigerian government to justify
oversupply. The market performance indices at the close of trade surged by 0.98 percent, growth by N87.2 billion at the close of trading on recorded previously. All Share Index added 253.47 points to close at 26,071.16 points from 25,817.69 points recorded last Friday, while Year-to-date returns settled at –8.98 percent. The day’s performance was also preceded by improvement recorded across all sectoral indices, except for the Insurance and Consumer goods Index that recorded a decline of 0.72 and 0.02 percent respectively. The insurance goods index was dampened by loses recorded in Axamansard and Wapic Insurance while the Consumer goods index recorded a depreciation on account of a 0.05 percent decrease in the share price of flourmills.
Investors’ appetite showed significant improvement as market breadth settled with 23 gainers to 14 losers Seplat Petroleum Development Company led the gainers table by 10.25 percent to close at N374.85 per share, while Forte Oil followed with an appreciation of 10.24 to close at N117.11 per share. Champion Breweries grew by 9.66 percent to close at N2.61 per share, Dangote Flour added 7.63 percent to close at N4.09 per share while Oando increased 6.73 percent to close at N4.44 per share. On the flip side, Avon Crown Caps and Containers led the day’s declining stocks with a loss of 5 percent to close at N1.14 per share, Portland Paints trailed with 4.80 percent decline to close at N2.18 per share while, Union Bank dropped 4.70 percent to close at N4.26 per share.
Continental Reinsurance Plc has appointed Chief Ajibola Ogunshola as the new nonexecutive Chairman of the Board to succeed Nadia Fettah. Continental Reinsurance Plc is 58.4 percent owned by C-Re Holding Limited, a Mauritius-based investment vehicle, with the remainder being free float. Ogunshola reacting to his appointment, was quoted to have said “I am honoured to accept the Board’s appointment. Continental Reinsurance is at an exciting phase and I look forward to working with the Board and management to build on the success that has been achieved so far. “I strongly endorse the strategic vision of building Continental Reinsurance Plc to be the premier private pan-African reinsurer.” Ogunshola holds a B.Sc. (Honours) degree in Mathematics from the University of Ibadan, and was the first black African to qualify as a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries, United Kingdom. He was for many years the representative of the institute in Nigeria, and a member of the International Association of Actuaries. The Group Managing Director/
Chief Executive Officer, Continental Reinsurance Plc, Dr. Femi Oyetunji, said: “We are pleased with the appointment of Chief Ogunshola as chairman. His experience and deep understanding of the industry will be instrumental in achieving our strategic objectives. “Chief Ogunshola has a formidable track record and Continental Reinsurance will greatly benefit from his knowledge and vast experience. I will also like to thank Mrs. Nadia Fettah for her contribution as chairman. She has been a great source of advice and guidance for the business. She leaves with our best wishes.” Over the years, Ogunshola has contributed to the development of many organisations while serving in various capacities, including as Managing Director of Niger Insurance; Chairman, Alexander Forbes Consulting Actuaries (Nigeria); Chairman, Punch Nigeria Limited; Chairman and Managing Consultant, Ajibola Ogunshola & Company (Actuaries); foundation President, Nigeria Actuarial Society; and President, Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria.