Public pension funds have become powerful and influential players in today’s global equity markets, investing trillions of dollars of government employees› retirement nest eggs. Global pension assets are estimated at nearly $30 trillion, and these growing funds are managing an increasingly large proportion of the world’s total wealth.
As a counterweight to the short-term mentality that motivates many stock traders, public pension funds have relatively long-term investment horizons. Many operate in the sunshine of regulators, under the close scrutiny of their beneficiaries, and have a fiduciary duty to act in the interests of retirees. That puts public pension funds› investment strategy and performance in the spotlight, and rightfully so. They are responsible for the retirement security of hundreds of millions worldwide, and they are among the largest institutional investors in public companies.
