The AO100, made up of the world’s largest 100 asset owners, now hold a record $26.3 trillion, according to research by the Thinking Ahead Institute.
This record amount was a result of a 12.3% year-over-year increase in assets from 2022, recovering the losses from a year in which assets fell by 8.7%.
Sovereign wealth funds remained a dominant force among other types of asset owners, now managing 38.9% of the assets among the AO100. Pension funds, while still forming the largest amount of assets by fund type (51.2%), saw the smallest year-over-year growth rate, with these assets rising by 8.9% in 2023.
Across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, sovereign wealth funds now hold 70% of total assets in the region. In comparison, SWFs have 43% of assets in the Asia-Pacific region, and 2% in North America.
Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund, Tokyo, remained the largest single asset owner in the world, with $1.59 trillion in assets. The top three of the AO100 also included the two largest sovereign wealth funds: Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages the country's Government Pension Fund Global, Oslo, was in second place with $1.55 trillion, with China Investment Corp., Beijing, now third globally at $1.24 trillion.
“Asset owners globally are navigating a series of waves and occasional storms — from market volatility and geopolitics to technology and structural changes in societies and economies,” said Jessica Gao, director of research at the Thinking Ahead Institute.
“Macro trends matter," Gao said. "Over the last 12 months, the global investment macro environment has been marked by volatility and mixed performance across asset classes. Interest rates reached significant highs in 2023. The first half of 2024 brought some stabilization in global markets, as base rates remained relatively flat.”
Gao also pointed to future trends such as the increasing importance of geopolitical movements on markets potentially impacting overall asset owner numbers. The TAI report also argued that traditional risk management, which relies on historical data and linear models, “falls short” in addressing modern day risks.
The top 20 assets owners made up 55.6% of total assets of the AO100, with $14.6 trillion. This was also the first year that the TAI included foundations and endowments as an asset class. In total, this category made up 0.6% of assets held by the AO100, with the only endowment fund large enough to make the AO100 being the €149 billion ($157 billion) Novo Holdings Foundation, Hellerup, Denmark.
