According to data from Bad Homburg-based Feri Institutional Management, the way German pension funds invested at the end of last year didn’t differ too much from a year early. At the end of 2001 pension assets invested in equities represented 26% of the total, mainly allocated to investments in the Euro-zone.
Bonds still attracted more assets from German pension funds, amounting to 62% of their portfolios at the end of 2001. Investments in property accounted for 9% of total assets, with around 3% of the remaining assets being allocated into other types of investments.
Although there is interest in alternative investments, especially hedge funds and private equity, these vehicles do not feature in the average asset allocation of pension funds.