German government to set minimum pension fund investment quota for VC allocations

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) is planning to set a minimum investment quota for venture capital investment allocations by public and private pension plans, according to a report by Investment & Pensions Europe.

The proposal would result in a total of €30 billion invested in VC funds as the government looks to boost the amount of capital available to start-ups.

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) has drafted a start-up strategy that would see a push worth a total of €30bn into investments in venture capital (VC) funds through pension assets and institutional investors.

According to the draft, the government is planning to set a minimum investment quota for statutory and private pension schemes in VC funds to structurally and permanently strengthen the capital available for start-ups.

The government’s strategy would help transform the economy with investments in technology to fight climate change, artificial intelligence, quantum technology, hydrogen, sustainable mobility, healthcare, bio-economy and circular economy, it said in the draft.

Last year, the cabinet led by Angela Merkel and supported by the grand coalition of Social Democrats (SPD) and the Union – the coalition between the Christians Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU) – quick started equity fund Zukunftsfonds (Future Funds) with €10bn to invest in start-ups working with future technologies that need to scale-up their businesses during capital-intensive phases of growth.

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