The report warns that funds without a social infrastructure framework risk losing member trust and policy relevance
Pension funds collectively manage more than US$56tn in assets, serve hundreds of millions of members worldwide, and, according to a new report, most still do not recognize the full scope of what they already do.
The International Centre for Pension Management released Social Infrastructure Blueprint: A Roadmap for Pension Funds on June 1, arguing that pension funds function as social infrastructure providers whether they acknowledge it or not.
The report said failing to recognise that role carries real institutional risk.
Gibbins said aging populations and rising inequality are straining public systems while evolving member expectations challenge existing pension models.
The blueprint gives funds "a practical, structured path to recognize that role, act on it, and measure it, without stepping outside their fiduciary mandate," he said.
The report warned that funds operating without a social infrastructure framework risk underinvesting in member well-being, failing to communicate their broader value to policymakers, and losing the trust and legitimacy their long-term sustainability requires.
Funds that pursue social initiatives without structure, it added, risk governance gaps and exposure to the charge that social objectives are being pursued at the expense of fiduciary duty.
The Blueprint organizes its framework into three steps.
The first, "Understand and Articulate," asks funds to recognize and communicate the broader benefits they already deliver beyond financial security — poverty reduction, improved health outcomes, social cohesion, and intergenerational stability.
The second, "Take Action," covers impact investing, extended member services, and member engagement.
The third, "Measure Impact," calls on funds to quantify and communicate social value using tools such as Social Return on Investment, well-being valuation, and Theory of Change frameworks.
The first and third steps apply universally and require no significant capital deployment; the second is contextual, shaped by fund size, legal frameworks, member demographics, and governance structures.
The report cited macro-level pressures underpinning the framework's urgency.
The UN projects the global population aged 65 and over will more than double by 2050, reaching 1.6 billion people.
The Global Infrastructure Hub estimates a global infrastructure investment gap of US$15tn by 2040, with healthcare, education, and housing among the most underfunded categories.
Four case studies illustrate the Blueprint in practice.
In the Netherlands, ABP, one of the world's largest pension funds with over €533bn in assets, is targeting €30bn in impact investing by 2030, including €5bn for affordable housing.
Through a partnership with real estate operator Greystar, the fund committed €420m in 2024 and €526m in 2025 to build rental housing for middle-income workers and essential professionals in Leiden and The Hague.
In Denmark, PFA developed an integrated "A Good Senior Life" strategy covering career counselling, supplemental senior health insurance, and the construction of up to ten private nursing homes, three now operational, for its 1.3 million customers.
In Canada, the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis applied well-being valuation to major public-sector pension plans and found that Ontario pension plan members reported a 47 percent greater likelihood of higher life satisfaction than non-members.
In Alberta, the total value of that additional satisfaction reached $1.2bn, or $12,800 per retiree, producing a combined benefit of $3.3bn when added to regular pension payments, a 56 percent increase above baseline.
In the Netherlands, Pensioenfonds Detailhandel piloted a deliberative mini-public in 2023, with 53 randomly selected members deliberating on responsible investment strategy across three full-day sessions; 88 percent rated the process as fair and trustworthy, and 91 percent believed their input would shape policy.
On fiduciary duty, the report stated the relationship between social infrastructure and fiduciary obligation is one of compatibility, not conflict.
In Canada, regulators have generally accepted that long-term risk factors including social considerations are consistent with fiduciary duty when properly integrated into investment decision-making.
The report does not prescribe a single approach, noting that what is appropriate for one fund may not be appropriate for another.
ICPM will host a public webinar on the findings on June 24.
The report is the product of a working group of nearly twenty pension fund leaders from Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, Chile, Denmark, and Australia, led by independent pensions expert Gareth Gibbins and Sally Shen of CPP Investments.
