Wisconsin Pension Buys $160 Million in Bitcoin ETFs

The State of Wisconsin Investment Board purchased Grayscale and BlackRock Bitcoin ETFs.



The State of Wisconsin Investment Board is among the first U.S. public pension funds to allocate to a spot bitcoin ETF, recent SEC filings show.

According to SWIBs Form 13F for Q1 2024, the $156 billion pension fund purchased $64 million worth of Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust ETF, and $99.2 million worth of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, 1,013,000 shares and 2,450,400 shares respectively.

Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust closed at $63.17 at the end of the first quarter.  iShares Bitcoin Trust closed the quarter at $40.47.

A SWIB spokesperson confirmed that the fund held positions in the two ETFs as of March 31, 2024. SWIB’s form 13F was released on Tuesday.

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Not the last?

Speaking at an event earlier this month in London, Manuel Nordeste, head of business development for Fidelity Investments’ digital assets, noted that defined benefit plans and other pension funds “are only starting to talk to their investment committees” about crypto assets.

“Now we’re starting to have conversations with the larger, real money institutional investor types, and we’re getting some of those clients, as well as corporates and so on,” Nordeste said.

Speaking with CoinDesk, Robert Mitchnick, head of digital assets at BlackRock, said that institutional investors, including sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and endowments are currently discussing how to approach crypto ETFs.

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Regulators Unhappy With Bitcoin in Retirement Plans

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Nomination Period Extended for CIO NextGens, Knowledge Brokers, Power 100

Chief Investment Officer would like your help identifying the industry's best for our annual recognition programs.

To make things simpler, this year Chief Investment Officer is asking you to suggest qualified candidates for three different lists.

Besides accepting nominations for our NextGen and Knowledge Brokers lists, this year, we also seek recommendations for our Power 100 list.

NextGens

The NextGen program recognizes the future leaders in institutional investing.

NextGens are rising stars in the world of asset allocators from the universe of public pensions, corporate pensions, endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds or other categories of institutional asset owners. If you know a person who possesses a virtuous mixture of financial knowledge, personal skills and the ability to forward think—someone who stands to become a CIO someday—please nominate that person.

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Knowledge Brokers

In the Knowledge Brokers program, we ask our audience of respected CIOs and allocators which consultants and advisers have “done right by them” in the current market environment.

Knowledge Brokers are the strategic partners skilled at matching CIOs with the best opportunities for investment mandates. These individuals scout the globe for the most relevant investment managers and financial firms, considering fees, technology, performance and time horizons. They discover global, as well as hyper-local, opportunities. They spot trends and opportunities best suited to meeting the challenges of the moment and standing the test of time.

To sum up, Knowledge Brokers are individuals whom CIOs and other asset allocators would recommend to their peers.

Power 100

Chief Investment Officer’s annual Power 100 list of allocators’ CIOs represents leadership, gravitas, adaptability, tenure, assets under management and change-maker acumen. As CIOs switch organizations, retire or otherwise drop off the list, we welcome suggestions for additions.

 

Nominations/Suggestions are due by June 18. A PDF of the nomination form may be viewed here. Nominations may be submitted at this link.

All list makers will be recognized at the 2024 CIO Industry Innovation Awards, December 10, in New York City. In addition, one Knowledge Broker will be selected to win our Consultant of the Year award. Mark your calendars for the awards celebration and the Influential Investors Forum.

 

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