Pension Funds and Sustainable Investment: Comparing Regulation in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany

The rapid growth in funded pension schemes in the past several decades is an important feature of advanced capitalism. In 2017, pension assets in the OECD were more than USD 40 trillion (OECD 2018), up from USD 24.6 trillion in 2006 (OECD 2007, p.3). The globalization and deregulation of financial markets since the 1970s have contributed to the growth in funded pension products, as many governments have sought to expand funded pension provision to compensate for cuts in public pensions and to increase the pool of capital available for investment. Innovations in portfolio management have strengthened this trend by expanding the range of investment products available to institutional investors.