Total assets of the world’s largest 300 pension funds grew by more than 3% in 2014 (compared to around 6% in 2013) to reach a new high of more than US$15 trillion according to Towers Watson and Pensions & Investments research.
The research also shows that the world’s top 300 pension funds now represent around 43% of global pension assets.
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The United States remains the country with the largest share of pension fund assets accounting for around 38%, while Japan has the second-largest market share with around 12%. The Netherlands has the third-largest market share with 7%, while Norway and Canada are fourth and fifth largest, respectively, with around 6% share each.
The U.S. has the largest number of funds (128), followed by the United Kingdom (27), Canada (19), Australia (16), Japan (15) and the Netherlands (13).
DB funds account for 67% of total assets, down from 75% five years ago. During 2014, DC assets grew the most, by almost 5%, followed by DB plans assets (almost 4%) and reserve funds (more than 1%) while hybrid plan assets decreased by more than 2%.
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