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Pendal Group, an Australian-listed investment manager with over AUS $ 100 billion ($ 73.6 billion) in assets under management, is moving into bitcoin.
As reported by the Australian Financial Review on Monday, Vimal Gor, Pendal’s head of bond, income and defensive strategies, said that with cryptocurrency “entering the realm of the mainstream” the company is now investing in bitcoin futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
“All the big hits in the hedge fund world are coming out to support bitcoin,” Gor said, alluding to Paul Tudor Jones II and Stan Druckenmiller, billionaires who both revealed this year that they own some of the top cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. .
While most of the big institutions have stayed away so far, customer demand has prompted the move, Gor said.
“We have been positioning ourselves in gold for our clients for many, many years now. Now we are doing it with bitcoin, “he said.
Bitcoin’s attraction hinges on the fact that falling yields amidst aggressive quantitative easing policies by central banks means government bonds are losing their appeal among high net worth individuals. According to Gor, bonds will eventually “turn into a dead asset class” as people turn to alternatives like gold and cryptocurrencies.
With the possible digitalization of the economy spurred by this year’s global pandemic, the Pendal Group executive said the global financial system will simply “evolve”, with the cryptocurrency remaining for years to come.
“Bitcoin is a cockroach that exists. They [governments] I can’t ban it from existence, “he said.
