UK-based pension consultancy firm Cartwright has announced that the country’s first Defined Benefit (DB) pension fund has returned 60% in one year after allocating 3% of its portfolio to Bitcoin.
Cartwright stated that with this important development, other institutional customers have also started to show interest in Bitcoin.
The firm advised an unnamed British pension fund on Bitcoin investment in November 2024. The firm’s senior investment advisor Arash Nasri said in a statement that the initial response in the industry had been “surprisingly positive.”
Following these developments, Cartwright has now published its first “Annual Bitcoin Assessment Report.” The purpose of this report is described as increasing Bitcoin awareness among institutional investors.
When asked whether the fund would increase its Bitcoin allocation in the future, Nasri said: “If Bitcoin continues to provide the returns we expect, our real question will be ‘when should we reduce it?’”
It was learned that the firm has started talks with other clients about similar investments. However, Nasri said that pension funds need to fully understand Bitcoin and take steps with a long-term perspective.
Stating that Cartwright has a neutral position in this process, Nasri said, “We are not a firm that manages investments. We are independent advisors and have built up a serious knowledge base to understand the potential impacts of Bitcoin on individuals, companies, asset owners and governments.
“It is our duty to investors to raise awareness in this area,” he said. However, adding that there are still some skeptics in the sector, Nasri stated that the argument that “Bitcoin’s price is too volatile” is frequently voiced, but this approach is disappointing, and added, “Our sector should be experts in portfolio management and position sizing.
“This reluctance to understand a new form of money and technology is very thought-provoking,” he said.
*This is not investment advice.