British pension specialist Cartwright is encouraging institutional investors to allocate assets to Bitcoin (BTC) and has successfully facilitated the first investment by a UK pension fund into the cryptocurrency, as reported by industry magazine Corporate Advisor.
The unnamed pension fund allocated 3% of its £50 million ($65 million) portfolio into Bitcoin last month after extensive consultations with the scheme’s trustees, addressing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations, investment rationale, and security measures. Glenn Cameron, head of digital assets at Cartwright, highlighted the thorough nature of these discussions.
This investment is particularly significant because the pension fund is directly investing in Bitcoin itself, rather than opting for a proxy investment such as an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The fund’s private key is securely divided among five independent institutions to enhance security.
In comparison, the State of Wisconsin pension fund recently made headlines for being the first U.S. state pension plan to invest in Bitcoin through spot ETFs, but that investment constituted only about 0.1% of its total assets. The UK pension fund’s allocation of 3% represents a much larger commitment.
Additionally, Cartwright announced the launch of a Bitcoin Employee Benefits scheme, which would enable employers to pay employees in Bitcoin through wallets created for them. Currently, five companies have expressed interest in this new offering.
While the total assets under Cartwright’s advisement remain unclear, the firm is estimated to have between 51 and 200 employees, according to LinkedIn, and is headquartered in Hampshire, UK.
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