U.K. pension funds may quicken their shift to bonds, while continental European pension funds may slow the rate of growth into equities in coming years, according to a new study by Goldman Sachs’ derivatives and trading research unit. U.K. plans, with nearly 1.6 trillion euros ($1.4 trillion) in assets, have been shrinking equity allocations by one percentage point a year since 1993. But that rate could double this year, resulting in a sale of 32 billion euros in equities, mostly domestic, the Goldman report speculates.
Meanwhile, continental European pension funds may reduce the rate of growth in their equity portfolios from nearly two percentage points a year. "If this rate halves to 1%, we expect 27 billion euros to flow into equities” — two thirds of which would flow into pan-European equities, the report said.
