A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any program, fund, or scheme which provides retirement income.
Pension funds typically have large amounts of money to invest and are the major investors in listed and private companies. They are especially important to the stock market where large institutional investors dominate. The largest 300 pension funds collectively hold about USD$6 trillion in assets. In 2012, PricewaterhouseCoopers estimated that pension funds worldwide hold over $33.9 trillion in assets (and were expected to grow to more than $56 trillion by 2020), the largest for any category of institutional investor ahead of mutual funds, insurance companies, currency reserves, sovereign wealth funds, hedge funds, or private equity.
The Federal Old-age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund in the United States, which oversees $2.62 trillion in assets, is the world's largest public pension fund.
Classifications
Open vs. closed pension fund
Open pension funds support at least one pension plan with no restriction on membership while closed pension funds support only pension plans that are limited to certain employees.
Closed pension funds are further subclassified into: Single employer pension funds Multi-employer pension funds Related member pension funds Individual pension funds
Public vs. private pension funds
A public pension fund is one that is regulated under public sector law while a private pension fund is regulated under private sector law.
In certain countries, the distinction between public or government pension funds and private pension funds may be difficult to assess. In others, the distinction is made sharply in law, with very specific requirements for administration and investment. For example, local governmental bodies in the United States are subject to laws passed by the states in which those localities exist, and these laws include provisions such as defining classes of permitted investments and a minimum municipal obligation.
Largest pension funds
The following table lists largest pension funds by total assets by the SWF Institute.
By country
Australia
Government
Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme (old scheme for federal civil servants) Military Superannuation and Benefits Scheme (current scheme for Australian Defence Force personnel) Public Sector Superannuation accumulation plan (current scheme for federal civil servants) Public Sector Superannuation Scheme (old scheme for federal civil servants) State Super (for New South Wales state civil servants)
Industry (not-for-profit)
AustralianSuper
AustSafe Super
CareSuper
Cbus
Energy Super
FIRSTSUPER
HESTA
Hostplus
legalsuper
LUCRF Super
Media Super
MTAA Super (Spirit Super) NGS Super REI Super TWUSUPER UniSuper Retail Employees Superannuation Trust
Private
ANZ Australian Staff Superannuation Scheme (for employees of ANZ Bank)
Brazil
Aceprev
Baneses
Banesprev
Centrus
FAPES
Forluz
Funcef
Fundação Banrisul
Fundação CESP
Fundação Itaubanco
Petros
PREVI - Caixa de Previdência dos Funcionários do Banco do Brasil (the closed private pension fund for employees of the Brazilian federal government-owned bank) Sistel Valia
Canada
Government
Alberta Investment Management Corporation
Alberta Pensions Services Corporation
British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCIMC) 455
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
Canada Pension Plan (investments directed by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board) Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) OPSEU Pension Trust (OPTrust) Ontario Pension Board (OPB) TTC Pension Plan (TTCPP) University Pension Plan (UPP)
Private
Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Pension Plan (CAAT) Boilermakers Pension Fund Trust Labourers' Pension Fund of Central and Eastern Canada (LIUNA) Teamsters Canadian Pension Plan Telecommunication Workers Pension Plan UFCW Canadian Pension Plan
Chile
AFP Modelo
Chile pension system
China
– managed by National Council for Social Security Fund
Greece
Government
Public Employees Pension Fund
Private
TAPILTAT, the Fund for Mutual Assistance of the Employees of Ioniki Bank and Other Banks, the multi-employer auxiliary pension fund