Deals

Spain’s BBVA pension allocates to PE and RE for first time

The employee pension of Spain’s second largest bank will start investing 5 percent of its €2.1bn pension fund in alternative assets.

-

BBVA, Spain’s second largest bank after Santander, is to invest five percent of its employee pension fund in private equity and real estate, a bank spokesperson told PERE.

This marks a portfolio shift for Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), which has assets of €2.1 billion ($3.2 billion) representing more than 41,000 participants.

A spokeswoman for BBVA, whose pension fund assets are managed by BBVA Gestion de Activos, confirmed the change of direction for the bank to private equity and real estate. The bank would also consider hedge fund investments, she said. The allocation shift is expected to come at the expense of the bank’s fixed interest holdings.