Skip to main content
The Actuary: The magazine of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries - return to the homepage Logo of The Actuary website
  • Search
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Logo of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Main navigation

  • News
  • Features
    • General Features
    • Interviews
    • Students
    • Opinion
  • Topics
  • Knowledge
    • Business Skills
    • Careers
    • Events
    • Predictions by The Actuary
    • Whitepapers
    • Moody's - Climate Risk Insurers series
    • Webinars
    • Podcasts
  • Jobs
  • IFoA
    • CEO Comment
    • IFoA News
    • People & Social News
    • President Comment
  • Archive
Quick links:
  • Home
  • Sections
  • News

Pension funds see assets balloon to record $23.6trn

Open-access content Wednesday 7th September 2022
Pension funds see assets balloon to record $23.6trn

Assets under management (AUM) at the world’s top 300 pension funds increased by 8.9% to reach a record $23.6trn (£20.5trn) in 2021, the Thinking Ahead Institute has revealed.

The not-for-profit group – which was founded by Willis Towers Watson (WTW) – also found that North America now accounts for 45.6% of assets of the 300 largest pension funds, up from 41.7% at the end of 2020. 

European pension funds account for 25.9%, and Asia-Pacific 25.5%, with the remaining 4% from Latin America and Africa.

While total AUM reached record highs, growth slowed from 11.5% in the previous year, which was expected after a very strong performance in asset markets over 2020. However, this still takes five-year cumulative growth to 50.2% in the period between 2016-2021.

Marisa Hall, co-head of the Thinking Ahead Institute, described the findings as a “story of two halves”. She explained: “On the one hand, a new record for the world’s major pension funds illustrates the optimism that defied a global pandemic. 

“Yet on the other, growth is slowing and the long-term dashboard is flashing amber. Looking ahead, rising inflation and subsequent central bank action are likely to cause global growth to falter, which may in turn endanger the longer-term funding status of pension funds.”

North America’s increased global AUM share was largely powered by the fastest annualised growth in invested assets, up 9.2%. Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and Latin America and Africa saw growth of 8.3%, 8% and 3.9%, respectively.

The US now accounts for 39.6% of top 300 pension fund AUM and has almost half the funds in the ranking, with 148. It is followed by the UK, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and Japan, on 23, 18, 15, 12, and 11, respectively.

Among the top 300 funds, defined benefit fund assets continue to dominate at 63.5% of the total AUM. However, defined contribution funds , reserve funds and hybrid fund assets are slowly gaining traction, on 23.8%, 11.8% and 0.9%, respectively.

Hall concluded: “We expect private markets will continue to expand considerably in the investment space over the long term, reflecting a need for new primary investment to support new models of sustainable economic growth.

“It’s clear that pensions can be a force for good to contribute to overcoming the substantial challenges in the world, but also a barometer of major questions we all face over the coming decades.”
 

Image credit: iStock

Author: Chris Seekings

Filed in
News
Topics
Investment
Pensions
Global

You might also like...

Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Actuarial Manager

London (Central)
£100,000 - £130,000 basic + bonus and benefits
Reference
145832

Pricing Analyst

London, England
£30000 - £45000 per annum
Reference
145831

Capital Modelling Analyst

London, England
£35000 - £55000 per annum
Reference
145830
See all jobs »
 
 

Today's top reads

 
 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to The Actuary

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
Spread-iPad-slantB-june.png

Topics

  • Data Science
  • Investment
  • Risk & ERM
  • Pensions
  • Environment
  • Soft skills
  • General Insurance
  • Regulation Standards
  • Health care
  • Technology
  • Reinsurance
  • Global
  • Life insurance
​
FOLLOW US
The Actuary on LinkedIn
@TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Facebook: The Actuary Magazine
CONTACT US
The Actuary
Tel: (+44) 020 7880 6200
​

IFoA

About IFoA
Become an actuary
IFoA Events
About membership

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to The Actuary Magazine
Contribute

The Actuary Jobs

Actuarial job search
Pensions jobs
General insurance jobs
Solvency II jobs

© 2023 The Actuary. The Actuary is published on behalf of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries by Redactive Publishing Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ