Public sector pension funds – including teachers funds and national pension pots – are investing in the music business. The Michigan State Teachers Pension Fund, for example, invested $1.1 billion of their $72 billion under management in Concord, the world’s largest independent music publisher. The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, one of Canada’s largest pension funds, invested $400 million CAD, alongside providing a $150 million CAD incremental facility in Anthem Music Management and Teachers owns the majority stake in Olé, another large Canadian music publisher. As far back as 2008, the Dutch State Teachers Pension Fund invested in Imagem, who are now owned by Concord. Moreover, the Korean National Pension Fund invested $27 million USD in HYBE, the K-Pop firm behind BTS. According to an analysis of the fund, it has earned a 8.9x return. Alekta, a Swedish pension fund that manages 2.6 million in personal pensions and the pension pools of 30,000 Swedish firms, invested $300m in Epidemic Sound, a label that releases royalty free soundtracks and mood music to help sleep, relax or focus.
Public pension funds, be it those of municipal workers, teachers or public sector employees, prioritise steady dividends and long term, patient capital.
