Long Term Investors Club grows to $4.1trn as 16th member signs up

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation has become the 16th member of the Long Term Investors’ Club (LTIC) – taking total assets aligned to the group to $4.1trn (euro).
The bank, known as JBIC, is the export credit agency of the Japanese government. It joins existing members such as Dutch pension giant APG and Canada’s Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System.
The Long Term Investors’ Club was launched in 2009 by four major European institutions – France’s Caisse des Depots, Italy’s Cassa depositi e prestiti, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Germany’s KfW, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau.

The body – chaired since October this year by KfW Chief Executive Ulrich Schröder – says it is now “one of themajor platforms of investors in the world”.

In June the group made a “shared commitment” to contribute to financing the transition to a green economy ahead of the Rio+20 summit.
The group says long-term investors are characterized by a low reliance on short-term market liquidity. They have the ability to retain their assets longer than other market players and can invest in – often illiquid – capital or debt instruments.
Members include major financial institutions financing economic development, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, public retirement funds, insurance funds.
In October the LTIC organised a conference in Luxembourg on the topic “Growth and employment: the role of long-term investors”.