The assets under management (AUM) of the world’s top 300 pension funds increased by 11.5 per cent to total of USD 21.7trn in 2020, according to the annual research conducted by the Thinking Ahead Institute.

Europe as a region ranked third in terms of AUM and number of funds in 2020, accounting for 27.5 per cent of all assets in the study. The region came behind North America, which was the leader with 41.7 per cent of all assets, and Asia-Pacific with a share of 27.5 per cent. During the year, Europe had an annualised growth of 7.8 per cent.

Overall, the US continues to have the largest number of funds in the top 300 ranking (138), followed by the UK (23), Canada (18), Australia (16) and Japan (14). A total of 34 new funds entered the top 300 in the last five years, with the US contributing the greatest net number of new funds (7) – having had 15 funds leave the ranking and 22 join. In contrast, the UK had the highest net loss of funds (4) during the same period as DB schemes in the UK continue to mature.

Commenting, Thinking Ahead Institute co-head, Marisa Hall, said: “Overall, the world’s largest pension funds grew strongly in 2020, yet the pandemic has also been a stark reminder of how the world is more interconnected and uncertain today than ever before.

“Pension fund boards are increasingly focused on managing many of the headwinds that have arisen from a 'new normal' of lower-for-longer interest rates. This has prompted concerns around solvency and led some schemes to increasingly stretch their risk budgets in order to meet return targets. Additionally, managing rising ESG expectations have created their own set of challenges and opportunities.”

As a result, pension fund boards’ agendas have become more complex and demanding than at any previous time. While some larger funds use best-practice governance to retain a strategic focus in the face of this complexity and explore more dynamic investment models such as total portfolio thinking, other schemes are using this as an opportunity to review their governance models to ensure they remain sufficiently robust.

Furthermore, Hall said the shift in focus to meet the investment challenges of tomorrow – such as achieving net-zero targets and ensuring real-world impacts - is prompting an increasing number of pension fund boards to adopt a more holistic and agile approach as they revamp their people, investment and business models.

“Boards which are successfully managing this transition have employed the power of technology, governance and culture ingeniously. Other pension fund boards are taking notice,” she stated.

Among the top 300 funds, DB fund assets continue to dominate at 63.4 per cent of the total AUM. However, the share of DB fund assets has been declining modestly over the years, as DC funds, reserve funds and hybrid fund assets are slowly gaining traction.

DB schemes dominate in North America and Asia-Pacific where they represent 73.7 per cent and 64.7 per cent respectively. To a smaller degree, DB schemes also account for a majority of assets in Europe (52 per cent), whereas DC plans dominate in other regions accounting for 72.5 per cent of assets, particularly in Latin American countries.

The research also shows that the top 20 pension funds’ AUM – which constitute 41.8 per cent of the total - grew by a 14.6 per cent in 2020; the second highest annual growth rate since 2004. This translates in a compound annual growth rate during the last five years of 8.9 per cent for the top 20 and 7.9 per cent for the top 300.

There was one new entrant in the top 20 funds in 2020. The Russian National Wealth Fund moved from 25 to 17 in the ranking, replacing the Texas Teachers pension fund, from the US, which dropped to 21 in the ranking.

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