Executive VP & President of Investment Services, State Street
Search every verified Joerg Ambrosius interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Joerg Ambrosius, Executive VP & President of Investment Services at State Street, has spoken about the growing pension obligations of German corporations. In a September 2020 interview, he stated that pension liabilities for DAX companies were around 300 billion euros at the end of 2012, with an increase of about 55 billion euros that year due to a declining discount rate. He described the low interest rate environment as creating "two negative effects" for pension funds: the low discount rate and the challenge of generating sufficient returns. Ambrosius noted a trend toward diversifying into alternative investments and infrastructure, but said the market does not currently offer enough investment opportunities in Germany. In a September 2021 interview, Ambrosius discussed racial inequality in the workplace. He described himself as "an ethnic minority ally" and said he sees it as his duty to listen to and support minority employees, adding that he is committed to helping achieve an equal workforce at State Street. Ambrosius stated that the financial industry should "start to see the eradication of racial inequality as a directly relevant issue" and that workplaces can be used "as instruments of social change." He also said that as a senior leader, he aims to "change outlooks, mindsets, and outcomes" within the industry.
“We are taking actions that are going to change outlooks, mindsets, and outcomes with small enough communities to mobilize in industry. It's much easier to make changes in industry because we can use our workplaces as instruments of social change.”
“We need to as an industry start to see the eradication of racial inequality as a directly relevant issue to us because ultimately it's about sustainability and about the survival of the industry.”
“We need to start positioning our might, using our platform on the issue across industry and we need to start doing that now.”
“As an ethnic minority ally in my role as a senior leader, I see it as my duty to listen to you and to support you and beyond this, I'm committed to helping achieve an equal workforce at State Street.”
“There are huge gaps opening up in the pension obligations of German corporations, and they are growing. It is high time for many CIOs and investors to take action.”
“At the end of 2012, pension liabilities for DAX companies were around 300 billion euros, while for the German mid-sized companies, the figure was about 24 billion euros.”
“There was an increase in pension liabilities of about 55 billion euros for DAX corporations in 2012, mainly because the discount rate used to calculate these liabilities dropped significantly due to the extremely low interest rate environment.”
“Some companies like Bayer and Deutsche Post have already injected billions into their pension funds to address these gaps, and we expect more companies to follow suit this year.”
“The IFRS accounting rules have changed to better reveal pension obligations on balance sheets, but there is still a trend of companies trying to move these liabilities off their balance sheets using mechanisms like City Scott Trust Agreements.”
“The capital markets have not helped in recent years, creating two negative effects: the low discount rate and the challenge of generating sufficient returns to meet pension obligations.”
“Many pension liabilities come with guaranteed minimum interest rates, often around 4%, which forces investment strategies to take on more risk since such returns cannot be achieved with government bonds or high-quality corporate bonds alone.”
“We clearly see a trend towards diversification in asset allocation, including alternative investments and infrastructure, especially into asset classes that are uncorrelated or negatively correlated with general capital market developments.”
“The market currently does not offer enough investment opportunities in Germany, particularly in alternative asset classes, which is a challenge for pension funds seeking diversification.”
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