Canada Pension takes 7th spot in top 20 pension funds
The top pension funds in the world have reached a new global record in total assets under management with Canada Pension taking the 7th spot worldwide, WTW’s Thinking Ahead Institute report found.
According to the Global Top 300 Pension Funds report, the pension funds has reached a collective number of $33.7 trillion (US$ 24.4 trillion) in total assets under management. The number broke the record that was previously set in 2021, which amounted to $32.6 trillion (US$ 23.6 trillion) before a market correction in 2022.
“The past year saw pension assets reach their highest levels yet, coming off several years of slowed growth following the previous record achieved in 2021,” said Thinking Ahead Institute director Jessica Gao.
“The world’s largest pension funds are navigating an increasingly complex landscape. Macroeconomic volatility, geopolitical shifts and concentrated market risks are reshaping return expectations. The current backdrop has tested even well-diversified portfolios, highlighting the difficulty of today’s investment environment,” she added.
Gao also pointed out that pension funds were facing more demanding relationships with stakeholders as their expectations regarding the management of pensions are rising.
“These intersecting challenges are heightening the responsibilities of fiduciaries, making strong governance more important than ever,” said Gao.
Canada Pension, with its total assets amounting to $686.2 million (US$ 496,935 million), took the 7th spot in the Top 20 pension funds in the world. Notably, the report found that the combined assets of the Top 20 pension funds reached $14.2 trillion (US$ 10.3 trillion), which was an 8.5% increase from the previous year.
The report further showed that these pension funds have increased in a faster rate compared to the Top 300 pension funds. They took up 42.4% of the Top 300 as a whole in terms of assets. Leading the pension funds was Norway’s Government Pension Fund, overthrowing Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, which had held the spot for more than 20 years.
WTW’s Thinking Ahead Institute’s Global Top 300 Pension Funds report highlighted the high-level trends within the pension fund industry and provided information regarding the changing composition of the top 300 list of pension funds all over the world. This includes their characteristics and investment allocations.
