Pension Assets in Largest Markets Climbed Almost 11% in 2023

In 2023, the assets of pension systems in the 22 largest pension markets increased to $55.7 trillion, representing a 10.96% increase from $50.2 trillion at the end of 2022, according to WTW’s Thinking Ahead Institute’s 2024 global pension assets study.

The study included Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S.

The total AUM of institutional asset owners, not just pensions, reached $170 trillion globally. Of this figure, pension funds manage a total of $59.7 trillion, including the $55.7 trillion in the largest markets; insurance funds manage $35.7 trillion, mutual funds manage $60.1 trillion, sovereign wealth funds manage $12.3 trillion and endowments and foundations manage $2.1 trillion.

Largest Pension Markets

The U.S. continues to be the largest pension market in the study, making up 64% of all assets held in the 22 largest. The U.S. was followed by Japan and the U.K., which held 6.1% and 5.8%, respectively, of the pension assets in the that group of markets.

The largest pension markets, according to the report.

United States – $35.6 trillion
Japan – $3.385 trillion
United Kingdom – $3.206 trillion
Canada – $3.105 trillion
Australia – $2.448 trillion
Netherlands – $1.737 trillion
Switzerland – $1.361 trillion
South Korea – $1.102 trillion
Germany – $596 billion
China – $423 billion
Mexico – $381 billion
Finland – $284 billion
Malaysia – $278 billion
Brazil – $272 billion
Italy – $243 billion
South Africa – $243 billion
India – $241 billion
Hong Kong – $216 billion
Chile – $199 billion
Ireland – $172 billion
France – $155 billion
Spain – $43 billion

“Pension assets are growing once again—just as the importance of the pensions industry itself consistently increases in a world facing new challenges and opportunities for future prosperity. Growth is back on the agenda,” said Jessica Gao, the Thinking Ahead Institute’s director of research, in the report. “This global growth is not yet rapid, and pension assets remain behind their pre-2022 position, but it is far better than the experience a year before. Inflation has moderated, and as a result financial markets have remained supported by interest rates which appear also to have peaked, at least for now, in most countries.”