Retirement fund Rest Super in Australia is likely to become the country’s maiden retirement fund to put money in cryptocurrency, as reported by the Australian Financial Review. The fund is comprised of over $46.8 billion in assets under management (AUM) and over 1.8 million members. It is the Australian version of a 401k or Individual Retirement Account in the United States, and it is mandatory for all workers to participate. Until recently, the $2.4 trillion industry has shown tremendous caution when it comes to bitcoin trading.
On Nov. 23, at Rest Super’s annual general meeting, chief investment officer Andrew Lill stated that the company views cryptos as an “important part” of its portfolio going forward, but that it will move ahead “carefully and cautiously.” He added that because cryptocurrencies continue to remain a “very volatile investment,” any allocation exposure to them will be portion of the company’s diversified portfolio, at first as a “fairly small allotment that may, in course of time, ramp up.”
As a final point, Lill expressed his belief that providing members with exposure to cryptocurrency and blockchain technology might provide a “reliable source of wealth” at a time when investors are rushing to cryptocurrency as a buffer against fiat-based inflationary pressure.
“I believe that in an inflationary environment, it may be a potentially decent location to put your money.“
Immediately after the CIO’s speech, a representative for Retirement Systems of America (Rest) emphasised in a statement that the company is “definitely investigating cryptocurrencies as a strategy to broaden our members’ retirement assets [but] will not be putting the money in the near future.”
Presently, the representative said, “we are undertaking rigorous study of the asset class before making any judgments.” The security and regulatory concerns of investing in this group are also being considered, according to the firm.
The fund’s chief executive, Paul Schroder, said on Monday that “we do not consider cryptocurrencies to be an investible asset for our members,” which is in stark contrast to the statements made by Rest Super earlier this week. It was reported earlier this month that the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC), a state-owned investment firm, was considering expanding its cryptocurrency holdings.
The business, on the other hand, told Business Insider this week that the claims were “incorrectly indicated” and downplayed any potential advances toward digital asset adoption. Stuart Simmons, the head of currency at QIC, also said that although he expects superannuation funds to embrace cryptocurrency in the future, he believes it would be “a trickle, rather than a flood.”
After the progress of extensive regulatory plans by a Senate committee in October as part of an effort to advance the nation into another crypto centre, and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s (CBA) decision to provide crypto trading through its banking app earlier this month, the discussion comes at a potentially bullish time for the Australian crypto market.
Despite the fact that the country is waiting to see which major conventional financial firm will be the next to adopt cryptocurrency, the CBA’s CEO, Matt Comyn, stated earlier this week that the bank was clearly driven by FOMO rather than being concerned about the risks related to cryptocurrencies.
“We recognize that there are hazards associated with participation, but we believe that the risks associated with not engaging are greater.”
