A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any plan, 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
PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four account ...
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 fund
A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as ...
s, or
private equity.
The
Federal Old-age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, which oversees $2.66 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
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
(current scheme for federal civil servants)
*
Public Sector Superannuation Scheme (old scheme for federal civil servants)
*
State Super
'State Super'', is one of the oldest superannuation funds in Australia beginning in New South Wales in 1919 with the creation of thState Superannuation Schemefor salaried public servants. It is in the Australian Prudential Regulation Authorit(APRA ...
(for
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* '' Our ...
civil servants)
Industry (not-for-profit)
*
AustralianSuper
*
AustSafe Super
*
CareSuper
CARE Super (stylised CareSuper) is an Australian industry superannuation fund, focussing on superannuation for people engaged in professional, managerial, administration and service occupations. Established in 1986, CareSuper now services over ...
*
Cbus
The CBUS was a free downtown circulator bus in Columbus, Ohio. The service was operated by the Central Ohio Transit Authority. The CBUS service primarily traveled along High Street between the Brewery District and the Short North. The service h ...
*
Energy Super
*
FIRSTSUPER
*
HESTA
*
Hostplus
*
legalsuper
Legalsuper is an Australian superannuation fund dedicated to the legal community. It is the only industry superannuation fund for Australia's legal profession. Its MySuper default account is called MySuper Balanced option.
As an industry super f ...
*
LUCRF Super
*
Media Super
*
MTAA Super Mtaa may refer to:
* Mtaa (settlement)
* (Methyl-Co(III) methanol-specific corrinoid protein):coenzyme M methyltransferase, an enzyme
* M.River & T.Whid Art Associates
{{Disambig ...
(Spirit Super)
*
NGS Super
*
REI Super
*
TWUSUPER
*
UniSuper
*
Retail Employees Superannuation Trust
Private
*
ANZ Australian Staff Superannuation Scheme
ANZ may refer to:
People
* Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician
Banks
* ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia
** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand
** ...
(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
Crown corporations in Canada are government organizations with a mixture of Commerce, commercial and Public policy, public-policy objectives.Tupper, Allan. 2006 February 7.Crown Corporation" ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (last edited 2021 March 1 ...
(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
The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) is a Canadian public pension fund, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. OMERS is a defined benefit, jointly sponsored, multi-employer public pension plan created in 1962 by Ontario provinci ...
*
Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments)
*
OPSEU Pension Trust (OPTrust)
*
Ontario Pension Board
The Ontario Pension Board in Canada is an independent organization responsible for administering defined-benefit pensions for certain employees of the provincial government
A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of ...
(OPB)
*
TTC Pension Plan (TTCPP)
*
University Pension Plan
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
(UPP)
Private
*
Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Pension Plan
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...
(CAAT)
*
Boilermakers Pension Fund Trust
* Labourers' Pension Fund of Central and Eastern Canada (
LIUNA)
*
Teamsters Canadian Pension Plan
*
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than tha ...
Workers Pension Plan
*
UFCW Canadian Pension Plan
Chile
*
AFP Modelo
AFP most often refers to:
* Agence France-Presse, an international news agency
* Australian Federal Police
AFP or afp may also refer to:
Media
* Advertiser-funded programming, a television funding model
*American Family Publishers, a magazine ...
*
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
Hong Kong
*
Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme (MPF Schemes)
* Occupational Retirement Schemes (ORSO Schemes)
India
*
Employees' Provident Fund Organisation – a statutory social security body of the
Government of India
The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...
that administers a mandatory Provident Fund Scheme, Pension Scheme and a death/disability Insurance Scheme. Provident Fund is applicable for employees across all establishments (private as well as government, subject to criteria). EPFO is the largest social security organisation in
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
with assets well over 5 lakh crore (US$159 billion) as of 2014.
*
National Pension Scheme – a defined-contribution–based pension scheme launched by the
Government of India
The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...
open to all ci