DIRECT EQUITY: Large Public Pensions Went GAGA for Apple Stock in 2020
Posted on 12/23/2020
According to SWFI transaction data, large public pensions and sovereign wealth funds directly invested over US$ 17.7 billion into Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) versus roughly US$ 2.105 billion. SWFI cannot capture every public pension fund’s listed equity transactions, but the amount is a sample that has been collected through various time periods. A sample of the public pensions include CalPERS, CalSTRS, CPP Investments, and PSP Investments.
As of December 23, 2020, Apple Inc. has a market capitalization of US$ 2.24 trillion. According to the SWFI Global Asset Owner Survey, for each quarter in 2020, respondents viewed “U.S. Long Technologies Equities” as the most crowded trade. The quarterly investor survey polls sovereign wealth funds, pensions, endowments, and other asset owners (non-fund managers).
Apple vs. Amazon – Direct Equity Investments by Sovereign Wealth Funds and Large Public Pensions
Billions USD. Source: SWFI terminal. SWFI.com
Tesla
In comparison to Tesla Inc., which joins the S&P 500 index family. According to SWFI data, for 2020, direct listed equity investments into Tesla by the public investor group amounted to US$ 2.78 billion versus US$ 19.6 million in 2019 versus US$ 2.289 billion in 2018.
Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon has received consistent flows from large public funds. According to SWFI data, for 2020, direct listed equity investments into Tesla by the public investor group amounted to US$ 1.44 billion versus US$ 1.8 billion in 2019 versus US$ 1.4 billion in 2018.