First Pension Funds Investing in Crypto

The news is being hailed as the first time a United States pension fund has directly invested into cryptocurrency assets.

These funds will be used in the newly launched Morgan Creek Blockchain Opportunities Fund.UndauntedAfter the lofty highs of 2017, the cryptocurrency markets have endured a humbling and ongoing price correction.

Cointelegraph spoke directly to Pompliano to unpack some of the details around the fund, how it managed to seal investment from pension schemes, and the challenges of managing a crypto investment firm during trying marketing conditions.

Perhaps the biggest victory is the fact that the digital asset fund secured investment from pension funds, which are by nature conservative, in order to ensure the provision of income for beneficiaries at retirement.

"At least 85% of the Morgan Creek Blockchain Opportunities Fund will be invested in blockchain technology firms. As such, this is very similar to other private equity investments made by Fairfax's three retirement systems. No more than 15% of the funds will be invested in actual cryptocurrencies and, to-date, the Fund has no exposure to any cryptocurrencies."

When asked if he expected other governmental pension funds to look to invest in the space, Weiler replied that 'he had no idea'.

Setting a new precedent?As reported by Cointelegraph last week, the Global Blockchain Business Council released results of an ongoing survey that suggests that 41 percent of participating institutional investors would look to put funds into digital assets in the next five years.

This survey was carried between December 2018 and January 2019, and 71 global institutional investors took part, which included private equity, hedge funds and pension funds.

Digital asset management fund Grayscale Investments released their latest quarterly results, which suggests that the amount of funds coming from institutional investors into the crypto markets is on the rise.

Their data shows that institutional investors accounted for 66 percent of funds raised in the last quarter of 2018, while the effect of the bear market has investors looking at making moves in the long term.