The Vorsorge-Symposium and the parallel "Fachmesse 2. Säule" offer an important annual opportunity for foundation boards, managing directors and pension fund experts to find out about the latest developments and innovations in the field of occupational pension provision. It is important to the University of Liechtenstein to use its expertise to contribute to further education and the expansion of knowledge in this important area.
The two professors spoke on the topic of "Digital assets: can and should pension funds invest?", with Christian Dreyer, CFA, acting as moderator.
In his input presentation, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Martin Angerer highlighted the various facets of digital assets, in particular Bitcoin and Ethereum as investments, but also securities tokens and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). He emphasized that digital assets are becoming increasingly important as a yield-generating investment for pension funds, as they can improve the risk-return ratios of pension fund portfolios. Despite this potential, however, there are also significant challenges, such as high market volatility, regulatory uncertainties, reputational concerns and the high energy consumption of crypto mining.
As Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Stiftung Personalvorsorge Liechtenstein (Liechtenstein Pension Fund Foundation), Prof. Dr. Michael Hanke represented the practical perspective of a pension fund in particular and complemented the discussion with his well-founded contributions and answers to numerous questions from the audience, which showed great interest and commitment. Together, the two professors from the University of Liechtenstein demonstrated their in-depth expertise and made a significant contribution to the success of the panel.
The Pension Symposium 2024 proved to be a great success with around 2,500 guests. It offered pension fund decision-makers a valuable platform for further training and an exchange of current trends. The event underlined the importance of the company-managed "2nd pillar" of pension provision.