Two U.S. Pension Funds Are Investing In Morgan Creek’s Crypto Fund
Calling it as an industry first event in the crypto sector, cryptocurrency asset management company Morgan Creek confirms that two pension funds in the U.S. shall be investing in Morgan Creek’s crypto fund.
Dubbed as the Morgan Creek Blockchain Opportunities Fund, the fund seeks to make major investments in cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, along with other token-based projects and blockchain startups.
The two public pension funds are Fairfax County, Virginia’s Police Officer’s Retirement System and Employees’ Retirement System. Apart from them, other investors in the Morgan Creek’s crypto fund include an insurance company, a hospital system, a university endowment, and a private foundation.
Morgan Creek initially estimated to raise $25 million for its crypto fund. However, citing huge demand, the company has ultimately raised over $40 million in total. Morgan Creek is one of the biggest crypto asset management companies while governing over $1 billion in net assets until March 2018.
In December 2018, founder of Morgan Creek Digital fund, Anthony Pompliano said that institutions and pension funds will take time to warm up with the crypto sector. He also stated that “We need to educate multiple stakeholders and demystify this nascent industry. When one makes the decision, it will create a cascading effect that leads to hundreds of them jumping in.”
During his recent phone interview with Bloomberg, Pompliano stated that institutions have slowly started pouring “smart money” with long term bets on the crypto sector. He said: “There’s a belief in the institutional world that if the industry will be around for a long time, it will be very valuable. The smart money is not distracted by price but looks at the long-term trends, and believes they’re betting on innovation as a great way to deliver risk-mitigated returns.’’
Pompliano further added that “These are incredibly intelligent, long-term thinking, permanent capital allocators and so, they have a very different mindset than retail investors or some other capital allocators.”
Katherine Molnar, the chief investment officer of the Fairfax County Police Officer’s Retirement System also showed optimism on participating in this new project. She stated: “Blockchain technology is being applied in unique and compelling ways across multiple industries. We feel it is important to be opportunistic and are excited to participate in this emerging opportunity, due to the attractive asymmetric return profile that it represents.”
Morgan Creek partner Mark Yusko reciprocated to Molnar’s views saying “We are proud to partner with these investment professionals who have shown an ability to be forward-thinking and innovative.”
This is indeed a classic example of how the traditional financial industry is warming to the idea of cryptocurrency. WorldCoinIndex recently reported that Reality Shares ETF Trust has filed with the SEC for a new ETF fund that has exposure to Bitcoin Futures besides traditional sovereign debt funds.