Assets under management at the world’s largest pension funds increased in value by 6.1% in 2016, representing a total of $15.7 trillion, according to the latest global 300 research from Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ:WLTW), a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company. The figures for year-end 2016 show a return to growth, following a 3.4% decline in 2015, while cumulative growth in assets since 2011 now stands at 23.4%. The top 20 funds by asset size in the research experienced a higher increase than the overall ranking, growing assets by 7.1% over the period. The research shows that the world’s top 300 pension funds together now represent 43.2% of global pension assets, rising from 42.5% in 2015, as estimated against figures from Willis Towers Watson’s Global Pensions Asset Study.

“The search for attractively priced assets at acceptable risk continues to be a driving force in shaping the fortunes of pension funds and their ability to meet respective missions and objectives,” said Steve Carlson, head of Investment, North America, Willis Towers Watson. “This is increasingly hard and reduces the shine from a year in which the largest asset owners have been able to achieve superior growth. Central to this result has been the ability of leading asset owners to adapt to the ever-changing investment environment, through improvements in governance and the ability to learn from their peers. The desire of asset owners to implement best practices and sound governance has strengthened and will be a key factor in their future success.”

According to the research, North American funds showed the most noticeable annualized growth rate over the last five years, growing by 6.7% during the period. Funds from Europe and Asia Pacific regions showed annualized growth rates of 3.1% and 2.8% respectively. The U.S. continues to hold its position as the country with the largest share of pension assets across the top 300 funds, representing 38.6% spread across 134 funds. Meanwhile, Canada has overtaken the U.K. as the fifth largest country by share of pension fund assets, accounting for 5.4% (5.3% in 2015). The U.K. now accounts for 4.8%, falling from 5.4% of total assets in 2015.

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