Allocation Targets of Public and Corporate Pension Plans

I found this interesting post on the AllAboutAlpha.com website that I access through my CAIA membership.    The author refers to two surveys on pension funds from Pyramis, a part of FMR Management, and JP Morgan.  In previous posts sourced from Pensions & Investments, pension funds are planning to allocate more assets to alternative investments.  The Pyramis study breaks down the pensions into public and corporate plans.  US public plans are allocating 13% while US corporate plans are allocating 5%.  Both figures are well below other western nations.  Canada and countries from the Nordic Region are planning a 20% allocation.

The JP Morgan survey looks at public pension funds, corporate pension funds and endowments/foundations.  Hedge funds, private equity and real estate are the major alternative investments.  Corporate pensions have a higher allocation in hedge funds (4.6% to 4.2%) while real estate (4.6% to 3.5%) and private equity (8.1% to 3.3%) are more popular with public pensions.