Welcome to GAC GmbH

Transparency and Market Insight
that Create a Competitive Edge

Since 2014, we have been producing independent analyses of the institutional investor landscape and highlight in our InstiPortal the individual structure, asset allocation, performance and development of over 700 institutional investors in the DACH region

News about our market analyses

March 2026 - DAX/MDAX: €300 billion with 23% in equities and a 3.5% return in 2025

News

In 2025, the discount rate used to calculate pension liabilities rose significantly to 4.1% (previous year: 3.45%). As a result, the pension liabilities on the balance sheets of DAX/MDAX companies fell by almost 7% to around €361 billion. In 2020, pension liabilities peaked at well over half a trillion euros at the height of the low-interest-rate phase. The plan assets set aside to fund these liabilities also fell in 2025, albeit by only around 1% to approximately €304 billion. On a capital-weighted basis, the funding ratio rose significantly by almost 5 percentage points compared with the previous year to 84–85% (87–88% for the DAX alone). In terms of asset allocation, the bond allocation fell slightly to 48%, whilst the equity allocation rose by around two percentage points to almost 23% for the first time in four years. Property accounts for around 6% and alternatives 7% of the total allocation. The remainder is allocated to insurance solutions, derivatives and liquidity. The average return in 2025 was around 3.5% (previous year: around 5%), with results ranging from -1% to over +11%. This results in an average annualised return of around 3.7% for the 18-year period since 2008.

February 2026 - Depot A: Assets rise to new record high in 2025

News

Consolidation in the savings banks and cooperative banks sector is progressing steadily. According to banking statistics, the number of savings banks fell further to 342 in 2025 (2016: > 400) and the number of cooperative banks fell by almost 25 to 645 (2015: > 1,000). The aggregate volume of securities for all institutions increased by more than 33 to around 551 billion euros (+6.5%) in 2025, accounting for just under a fifth of total assets. The volume of securities grew to a new record high in 2025, with direct bonds in particular expanding (+€30 billion). Around €183 billion was invested in special funds at the end of 2025 (savings banks €106 billion, cooperative banks €77 billion).

November 2025 - Versorgungswerke: €300 billion with over 40% in real estate/alternatives

News

The capital investments of the 92 pension funds for liberal professions continued to grow dynamically in 2024, rising by almost 5% to around €300 billion. Forty-eight institutions manage assets worth billions, 17 of them at least €5 billion. Direct bond investments continued to expand as in the previous year (23%). While the overall proportion of bonds rose slightly to 42%, the proportion of equities fell slightly further to just under 16%. The weighting of real estate in the overall allocation decreased slightly (22%), while alternatives were further expanded (19%). In 2024, pension funds achieved an average net return of around 3.5%.  

August 2025 - Pensionskassen: 212 Billion Euro, with one third in real assets

News

Capital Volume of "Pensionskassen" grew by five to around €212 billion in 2024. In company pension funds, the share of equities, real estate and alternatives in the total allocation has more than doubled since 2012 to around one third. However, equity exposure fell below 9% in 2024 for the second year in a row, and the weighting of real estate (13%) also declined slightly. Alternatives continued to grow to over 11%. In 2024, "Pensionskassen" achieved a net interest rate of almost 3% and a market value return of almost 4%, with company pension funds performing significantly better than the pension funds offered by insurance companies.

June 2025 - Asset Allocation Life Insurance: Equities decline, property stagnates, alternatives grow

News

While the capital volume of traditional life insurance policies shrank by more than six billion euros in 2024, unit-linked policies increased by more than 35 billion euros to a new high of almost 216 billion euros. Market values are still around -7.5% below book values. The median net return in 2024 was 2.1% and the market value return was 2.6%. 40% of new investments totalling well over EUR 100 billion flowed into direct bonds, although the ratio fell slightly to just under 39%. Together with mortgage loans and bond funds, interest-bearing investments accounted for a good 75% of total investments at the end of 2024. The equity quota has fallen slightly further to just over 4%, the property quota remains at around 7.5% and the weighting of alternatives continues to grow to around 11.5%.

ARCHIVE

     Health insurers' capital volume grew by EUR 13 billion in 2024
     DAX/MDAX companies with record coverage ratio
     Versorgungswerke: More bonds and alternatives, less equities and real estate
     Savings Banks Depot A: Interest Income is back
     Company Pension Funds 2023: Performance 6%, decreasing equity allocation
     Health insurance companies: Investments increase by 4% to 360 billion euros
     Life Insurances 2023 - Performance of around six percent
     Run Off - Significant shift in allocation ratios
     Obligations rise faster than plan assets in 2023 as interest rates fall
     Versorgungswerke - 270 billion euros with more than 40% real estate/alternatives
     Pension funds are once again focusing more on direct bond investments
     Life Insurance Companies: A quarter of a trillion less
     KVU: Decreasing bond and equity quota
     Highly dispersed investment results 2022
     CH: More than 1,000 pension funds manage over one trillion CHF
     Corporates: Coverage ratio rises despite lower investment return than in 2008
     Volume of Depot A securities remains at 530 billion euros in 2022
     Pension funds for liberal professions with 4% net return and almost 40% illiquid assets
     Pension funds continue to grow strongly
     Pensionskassen - Investment volume grows by more than eight billion euros
     LVU 2021 with negative market value yield, AA slowly becomes more colorful
     380 billion euros with increasingly shares, real estate and alternatives
      Corporates - Coverage ratio increases significantly
     Depot A - Funds volume at record level
     Pension Funds for liberal Professions: 45% Bonds, 18% Equities, 35% Real Estate/Alternatives
     GAC with the largest investors in Private Banking Magazine
     LI in pandemic year with 5.6% return, less equities and more real estate / alternatives
     DAX/MDAX: 5% return on plan assets of 340 billion euros
     Savings banks and cooperative banks increase special funds volume by almost 12 billion euros
     Pension funds for liberal professions: less than half fixed-income, one-third illiquid assets
     GAC in dpn: The 100 largest investors in Germany
     Pensionskassen with higher ratios for equities, real estates and alternatives
     Savings banks with significantly increased real estate investments
     Life insurance companies with very good performance 2019
     GAC in dpn: DAX/MDAX - Pension obligations and assets at the all-time high
     With God’s blessing – Church investors manage investments of over 100 billion euros
     GAC in TiAM: Company Pension Funds and Pension Funds for Liberal Professions
     GAC on the largest Depot A investors in dpn
     GAC in dpn: The largest insurance companies in the DACH region
     GAC in dpn: Asset Allocation fo pensions funds in Switzerland
     GAC with update 2019 on asset allocation and performance of life insurance companies
     GAC in IPE yearbook 2018: Equities- and real estates-exposure of 250 institutional investors
     GAC with ranking of the largest institutional investors on
     GAC discusses investments by churches in dpn-online
     GAC appears in dpn-online discussing investments by social security funds
     GAC with an update to pension funds of liberal professions (dpn)
     GAC appears in IPE addressing the structure and performance of proprietary securities account (Depot A)
     GAC in dpn: The 30 largest foundations in Germany
     GAC discusses institutional investors in sweden
     GAC discusses transition of the asset allocation (dpn)
     GAC appears in the IPE yerabook addressing asset allocation and performance of corporates
     GAC in Absolut Report: Asset Allocation and Performance of Company Pension Funds
     GAC in Absolut Report: Asset Allocation and Performance of Pension Funds of Liberal Professions
Transparency and Market Insight

Transparency and Market Insight

We firmly believe that transparency and detailed market insight are the foundation for above-average results. That is why we founded GAC in 2014 with a clear objective: to provide decision-makers and committees of asset managers, banks and investors as well as their advisors with an unobstructed and detailed view of the institutional investor landscape.

To this end, we continuously analyse the structure, asset allocation, performance and development of institutional investors. The GAC online tool “InstiPortal” covers over 700 institutional investors (pension funds, insurance companies, corporates, Depot A, church investors, SGB investors, foundations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and is currently used by more than 100 banks, asset managers and investors.

GAC Technical Articles

December 2025 Institutional investment in the second year after the interest rate turnaround (dpn)
December 2024 Institutional investment more stable than perceived (dpn)
October 2023 Institutional investment – half a trillion less
April 2022 Depot A - Capital investments in transition (dpn)
April 2022 Corporates - What will 2022 be like? (dpn)

ARCHIVE

Manfred Mönch

Expertise and Passion

Founder and Managing Director Manfred Mönch (CFA) held senior leadership positions at renowned private banks and asset managers and, with over 20 years of expertise in financial and capital markets, knows the challenges facing institutional investors first-hand. With precision and passion, he has been driving the vision of GAC forward since 2014.

Manfred Mönch studied Business Administration at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and is a member of the CFA Society Germany e.V.