Assets at U.S. institutional pension funds increased 12% in 2013 to a record $18.9 trillion, according to Towers Watson’s annual Global Pension Assets Study. According to the research, global institutional pension fund assets in the 13 major markets grew by 9.5% during 2013 (compared to 6.9% in 2012) to reach a new high of almost $32 trillion. The growth is the continuation of a trend that started in 2009, when assets grew 18%, and in sharp contrast to a 22% decline during 2008, when assets fell to around $20 trillion. Global pension fund assets have now grown at an average of over 6.7% annually since 2003.
The study reveals that the growth in assets helped to strengthen pension fund balance sheetsglobally during 2013, with 10-year figures showing the U.S. grew its pension assets by 27% to reach 113%. The ratio of global assets to global gross domestic product (GDP) is at its highest level since the research began. According to the study, pension assets now amount to around 83% of global GDP, a large rise from the 76% recorded in 2012 and substantially higher than the 57% recorded in 2008.
