Los fondos de pensiones acaparan la adquisición de tierras agrícolas

Los fondos de pensiones acaparan la adquisición de tierras agrícolas

Los fondos de pensiones están acaparando la adquisición de tierras agrícolas alrededor del mundo, perjudicando a comunidades locales y promoviendo una agricultura contraproducente para los actuales problemas alimentarios y medioambientales. Los fondos de inversión, en especial los fondos de pensiones, se encuentran atraídos a estas inversiones por los beneficios potenciales. Se estima que entre 5.000 y 15.000 millones de dólares del sector de mercancías o commodities están destinados a la adquisición de tierras de cultivo. Sin embargo, como se sabe, los fondos de pensiones manejan los ahorros de los trabajadores, por lo que debería haber alguna forma de rendición de cuentas públicas o de otro tipo cuando se tomen decisiones de inversión. En ese sentido, los fondos de pensiones acaparadores de tierras, son uno de los pocos fondos que podrían ser desbaratados por la población que es dueña del dinero, y éste ha sido uno de los objetivos de los movimientos sociales.

Los fondos de pensiones

Actualmente las pensiones de los trabajadores están manejadas por empresas privadas que deben entregar a los trabajadores mensualidades luego de su jubilación. Se sabe que los fondos de pensiones, a nivel mundial, manejan 23 billones de dólares en activos. Los más grandes son aquellos administrados por los gobiernos, como es el caso de Japón, Noruega, Holanda, Corea y Estados Unidos. (Ver cuadro de mayores fondos de pensiones a nivel mundial). Los fondos de pensiones fueron afectados durante la última crisis financiera. Por ello, muchas de estas administradoras de fondos recurren a las tierras agrícolas, muy atractivas por un patrón claro de oferta y demanda: una creciente población mundial necesitada de alimentos. Además, los administradores de estos fondos consideran que los precios de las tierras son relativamente bajos en países como Australia, Sudán, Uruguay, Rusia, Zambia o Brasil. Estos fondos consideran los beneficios a largo plazo por el precio creciente de la tierra y los ingresos que perciben, además, con las ventas de cosechas, ganado lechero y producción de carne. La agricultura es claramente una fuente de beneficios futuros para los inversionistas, con los precios de los commodities y los alimentos en alza, por lo que últimamente los fondos de pensiones empezaron a invertir fuertemente en este rubro. Barclays Capital informa que hace diez años los fondos institucionales invertían aproximadamente 6.000 millones de dólares en mercancías o commodities, mientras que actualmente la cifra asciende a 320.000 millones de dólares. De esos 320.000 millones, los fondos de pensiones invierten 100.000 millones. Y estas inversiones se dedican mayoritariamente a las tierras agrícolas –activos que ofrecen retornos anuales entre 10% a 20%. Actualmente, los fondos de pensiones tienen aproximadamente de 1 a 3% de sus carteras asignadas a los commodities de tierras agrícolas. Se estima que para 2015 se llegue a porcentajes de 3 a 5%. El panorama actual indica que los inversionistas más grandes están programando duplicar sus portafolios de propiedades de commodities agrícolas, que incluyen tierras agrícolas. La consecuencia de ello será la subida de precios de los alimentos, lo cual afectará gravemente a las comunidades rurales y pobres, e implica a los trabajadores. El tema queda en manos de los sindicatos de trabajadores, los gobiernos y otras instituciones responsables de decisiones estratégicas para controlar cómo se deben invertir los fondos de pensiones.

See Inside: P&I/Towers Watson World 300 - the largest retirement funds Table: The P&I/Towers Watson World 300 — world’s largest retirement funds By Pensions & Investments Published: September 6, 2010

P&I/Towers Watson World 300 Ranked by U.S. dollars, in millions. U.S. fund data are from the P&I 1,000, published Feb. 8, 2010; unless otherwise noted, Japan fund data are as of March 31, 2010, Australia fund data are as of June 30, 2010, and all other fund data are as of Dec. 31, 2009. Rank Fund Country Total assets 1 Government Pension Investment1 Japan $1,315,071 2 Government Pension Fund-Global Norway $475,859 3 ABP Netherlands $299,873 4 National Pension Korea $234,946 5 Federal Retirement Thrift U.S. $234,404 6 California Public Employees U.S. $198,765 7 Local Government Officials2 Japan $164,510 8 California State Teachers U.S. $130,461 9 New York State Common U.S. $125,692 10 PFZW Netherlands $123,390 11 Central Provident Fund3 Singapore $122,497 12 Canada Pension3 Canada $122,067 13 Florida State Board U.S. $114,663 14 National Social Security China $113,716 15 Pension Fund Association2 Japan $113,364 16 ATP Denmark $111,887 17 New York City Retirement U.S. $111,669 18 GEPF3 South Africa $110,976 19 Employees Provident Fund Malaysia $109,002 20 General Motors U.S. $99,200 21 National Public Service2 Japan $92,709 22 Ontario Teachers Canada $92,160 23 Texas Teachers U.S. $91,358 24 Fondo de Reserva Seguridad Spain $83,145 25 Previ Brazil $81,745 26 AT&T U.S. $80,206 27 Public School Employees2 Japan $79,009 28 New York State Teachers U.S. $77,640 29 IBM U.S. $77,321 30 Wisconsin Investment Board U.S. $73,096 31 Boeing U.S. $71,135 32 North Carolina U.S. $70,815 33 New Jersey U.S. $68,698 34 Ohio Public Employees U.S. $67,650 35 Bayerische Versorgungskammer Germany $65,063 36 Alecta Sweden $64,553 37 Future Fund Australia $60,710 38 General Electric U.S. $58,300 39 Ohio State Teachers U.S. $58,236 40 BT Group3 U.K. $57,211 41 Washington State Board U.S. $56,709 42 Royal Dutch Shell4 Netherlands $52,755 43 Oregon Public Employees U.S. $51,516 44 Michigan Retirement U.S. $50,914 45 Employees’ Provident5 India $50,094 46 FRR3 France $49,442 47 Metaal/tech. Bedrijven3 Netherlands $49,299 48 Organization for Workers2 Japan $49,130 49 Virginia Retirement U.S. $48,203 50 Universities Superannuation3 U.K. $48,021 51 Ford Motor U.S. $47,700 52 Georgia Teachers U.S. $47,552 53 Verizon U.S. $46,547 54 California University U.S. $45,903 55 Pennsylvania School Employees. U.S. $45,740 56 Ontario Municipal Employees Canada $45,727 57 Royal Bank of Scotland Group6 U.K. $45,093 58 PFA Pension Denmark $43,951 59 Electricity Supply Pension2 U.K. $43,115 60 Varma Finland $42,890 61 Public Institute for Social Security Kuwait $42,231 62 Massachusetts PRIM U.S. $41,757 63 Royal Mail7 U.K. $41,684 64 Lockheed Martin U.S. $40,764 65 Minnesota State Board U.S. $40,724 66 AMF Pension Sweden $40,655 67 Alcatel-Lucent U.S. $38,158 68 Lloyds TSB Group6 U.K. $37,977 69 Bouwnijverheid Netherlands $37,834 70 United Nations Joint Staff U.S. $36,555 71 Quebec Government & Public Canada $35,971 72 Private Schools Employees2 Japan $35,822 73 Northrop Grumman U.S. $35,687 74 AFP Provida Chile $35,682 75 Local Government Pensions Finland $35,402 76 National Pensions Reserve3 Ireland $35,042 77 Colorado Employees U.S. $34,148 78 Bank of America U.S. $33,957 79 Los Angeles County Employees U.S. $33,363 80 British Coal Pension Schemes3 U.K. $32,884 81 Ilmarinen Finland $32,776 82 Labor Pension Fund Taiwan $32,343 83 Maryland State Retirement U.S. $31,833 84 PME Netherlands $31,717 85 Bundes Pensionskasse Switzerland $31,331 86 Illinois Teachers U.S. $31,326 87 BVV Germany $29,976 88 Hospitals of Ontario Canada $29,747 89 Australian Super Australia $29,179 90 Exxon Mobil U.S. $29,000 91 AFP Habitat Chile $28,992 92 Quebec Pension3 Canada $28,965 93 Tennessee Consolidated U.S. $28,862 94 AP Fonden 3 Sweden $28,227 95 AP Fonden 2 Sweden $27,986 96 United Technologies U.S. $27,940 97 AP Fonden 1 Sweden $27,888 98 State Super Australia $27,439 99 AP Fonden 4 Sweden $27,043 100 Wells Fargo U.S. $26,737 101 AFP Capital Chile $26,542 102 Public Service Pension Plan2 Canada $26,484 103 Teamsters, Western Conf. U.S. $26,446 104 Railways Pensions U.K. $26,431 105 Petros Brazil $26,167 106 Zilverfond2 Belgium $25,907 107 Pennsylvania Employees U.S. $25,594 108 Barclays Bank U.K. U.K. $25,312 109 Alabama Retirement U.S. $24,885 110 QSuper Australia $24,758 111 Chrysler Group U.S. $24,531 112 National Grid3 U.K. $24,033 113 Sampension Denmark $24,020 114 British Airways3 U.K. $23,828 115 South Carolina Retirement U.S. $23,754 116 Missouri Public Schools U.S. $23,450 117 B.C. Municipal Canada $23,412 118 National Railroad U.S. $23,348 119 National Pension Association2 Japan $23,319 120 United Parcel Service U.S. $23,314 121 Arizona State Retirement U.S. $23,260 122 Banamex3 Mexico $22,885 123 UniSuper1 Australia $22,804 124 AFP Cuprum Chile $22,772 125 Mitsubishi UFJ Financial6 Japan $22,673 126 PensionISSSTE3 Mexico $22,604 127 BP U.K. $22,549 128 Connecticut Retirement U.S. $22,450 129 J.P. Morgan Chase U.S. $22,440 130 DuPont U.S. $22,350 131 FUNCEF Brazil $22,231 132 Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Japan $22,098 133 ING St. Psf.6 Netherlands $21,941 134 Texas Employees U.S. $21,825 135 Raytheon U.S. $21,601 136 Illinois Municipal U.S. $21,546 137 Nevada Public Employees U.S. $20,885 138 Unilever6 U.K. $20,655 139 Bae Systems Pension Scheme U.K. $20,637 140 Bancomer3 Mexico $20,499 141 BASF6 Germany $19,791 142 Iowa Public Employees U.S. $19,652 143 UBS Switzerland $19,602 144 BVK des Kantons Zurich Switzerland $19,300 145 FedEx U.S. $19,300 146 Utah State Retirement U.S. $19,225 147 Phillips Netherlands $19,102 148 Retirement Fund-KWAP8 Malaysia $19,099 149 Panasonic Japan $19,062 150 Siemens Germany $19,023 151 Chevron U.S. $18,894 152 Honeywell U.S. $18,863 153 Nestle6 Switzerland $18,788 154 Teamsters, Central States U.S. $18,659 155 Mississippi Employees U.S. $18,541 156 Kaiser U.S. $18,253 157 Hewlett-Packard U.S. $17,851 158 HSBC Bank U.K. $17,701 159 State Pension Finland $17,653 160 Novartis6 Switzerland $17,611 161 State Farm U.S. $17,500 162 Citigroup U.S. $17,471 163 ING3 Mexico $17,247 164 Rabobank Netherlands $17,226 165 3M U.S. $17,099 166 AkzoNobel U.K. $16,941 167 Greater Manchester3 U.K. $16,860 168 Doctors Pension Funds Services Netherlands $16,786 169 Dow Chemical U.S. $16,712 170 FSS-NSW Australia $16,699 171 PensionDanmark Denmark $16,691 172 Strathclyde Pension Fund3 U.K. $16,632 173 Alaska Retirement U.S. $16,451 174 American Airlines U.S. $16,414 175 Aria Australia $16,187 176 Procter & Gamble U.S. $16,141 177 Texas Municipal Retirement U.S. $16,077 178 Pfizer U.S. $15,802 179 VBL Germany $15,764 180 Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund Switzerland $15,722 181 REST Australia $15,712 182 Shell Oil U.S. $15,608 183 Ontario Pension Board9 Canada $15,296 184 Spoorwegpensioenfonds Netherlands $15,231 185 Delta Air Lines U.S. $15,125 186 Local Authorities Pension Board3 Canada $15,077 187 United Methodist Church U.S. $14,952 188 Texas County & District U.S. $14,836 189 San Francisco City & County U.S. $14,829 190 Prudential U.S. $14,791 191 B.C. Teachers5 Canada $14,778 192 ABN AMRO6 Netherlands $14,633 193 Zenkoku Shinyo Kinko Japan $14,592 194 ESSSuper Australia $14,433 195 Industriens Pension Denmark $14,277 196 B.C. Public Service Canada $14,247 197 Georgia Employees U.S. $14,237 198 British Steel Pension Scheme5 U.K. $14,140 199 Public Sector Pension Fund Taiwan $14,084 200 Profuturo GNP3 Mexico $14,001 201 Johnson & Johnson U.S. $13,984 202 Sunsuper Australia $13,893 203 Caterpillar U.S. $13,709 204 Canadian National Railways Canada $13,701 205 Indiana Public Employees U.S. $13,656 206 Hesta Australia $13,647 207 Hitachi6 Japan $13,629 208 Mizuho Financial Group6 Japan $13,608 209 Canada Post Canada $13,513 210 FEFSS Portugal $13,481 211 PG&E U.S. $13,442 212 Government Pension Fund3 Thailand $13,408 213 Deutsche Bank6 Germany $13,402 214 Grafische Bedrijven Netherlands $13,365 215 Magistrenes Pensionskasse Denmark $13,274 216 BP America U.S. $13,200 217 RWE Germany $13,192 218 Daimler Germany $13,180 219 BBC3 U.K. $13,168 220 Nordrheinische Ärzteversorgung Germany $13,102 221 Aviva U.K. $13,085 222 Baden-Wurttembergische Germany $12,983 223 Construction & Building Super Australia $12,969 224 Kentucky Teachers U.S. $12,966 225 Illinois State Universities U.S. $12,954 226 Inbursa3 Mexico $12,823 227 Allianz6 Germany $12,773 228 West Yorkshire3 U.K. $12,757 229 Toyota Motor6 Japan $12,662 230 Zurich Financial Services6 Switzerland $12,622 231 Bell Canada Canada $12,494 232 AP Fonden 7 Sweden $12,488 233 Laegernes Pensionskasse Denmark $12,362 234 Tapiola Mutual Pension Ins. Finland $12,260 235 Tokyo Municipal Government2 Japan $12,255 236 General Dynamics U.S. $12,239 237 National Electric U.S. $12,168 238 Credit Suisse Switzerland $12,159 239 PK Post Switzerland $12,114 240 GlaxoSmithKline U.K. $12,109 241 West Midlands Metropolitan U.K. $11,950 242 Illinois State Board U.S. $11,914 243 World Bank U.S. $11,854 244 Hydro-Quebec Canada $11,845 245 Louisiana Teachers U.S. $11,782 246 SBB Pensionskasse Switzerland $11,567 247 AerzteVersorgung Westfalen Lippe Germany $11,478 248 OPSEU Canada $11,461 249 City of Zurich10 Switzerland $11,460 250 Rolls-Royce U.K. $11,381 251 Kansas Public Employees U.S. $11,353 252 Lonmodtagernes Dyrtidsfond Denmark $11,350 253 Deere U.S. $11,348 254 Eastman Kodak U.S. $11,330 255 Wal-Mart Stores U.S. $11,298 256 Quebec Teachers2 Canada $11,261 257 Los Angeles Fire & Police U.S. $11,258 258 Fonds de Comp./Securite Sociale Luxembourg $11,094 259 Qwest U.S. $10,942 260 Porvenir8 Colombia $10,916 261 Kentucky Retirement U.S. $10,715 262 MetLife U.S. $10,711 263 Quebec Construction Industry2 Canada $10,604 264 ConocoPhillips U.S. $10,595 265 Federal Reserve Employees U.S. $10,570 266 Kraft Foods U.S. $10,559 267 New York State Def. Comp. U.S. $10,554 268 International Paper U.S. $10,525 269 New Mexico Public Employees U.S. $10,512 270 ACE Aviation Holdings2 Canada $10,457 271 Protección8 Colombia $10,323 272 Exelon U.S. $10,282 273 Idaho Public Employees U.S. $10,228 274 Siemens (USA) U.S. $10,185 275 Hoffman La Roche6 Switzerland $10,175 276 Ohio Police & Fire U.S. $10,140 277 Sygeplejersker Denmark $10,045 278 Fujitsu Japan $10,037 279 Hawaii Employees U.S. $9,765 280 Alcoa U.S. $9,724 281 E.ON Germany $9,715 282 Arkansas Teachers U.S. $9,661 283 Abbott Laboratories U.S. $9,636 284 Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group6 Japan $9,572 285 Super2 Australia $9,549 286 Southern Co. U.S. $9,448 287 Koch Industries U.S. $9,426 288 Los Angeles City Employees U.S. $9,328 289 Consolidated Edison U.S. $9,284 290 Operating Eng. International U.S. $9,277 291 Labor Insurance Fund Taiwan $9,268 292 GESF/GESB-WA Australia $9,174 293 Maine State Retirement U.S. $9,160 294 Chicago Teachers U.S. $9,157 295 Telstra Super Australia $9,143 296 Ohio School Employees U.S. $9,070 297 Government Service Insurance Philippines $8,922 298 New Zealand Superannuation10 New Zealand $8,795 299 Sears Holdings U.S. $8,772 300 Intel U.S. $8,757 Total $11,279,646 Footnotes: 1As of Dec. 31, 2009; 2Estimate; 3As of March 31, 2010; 4Global figure (ex-U.S.); 5As of March 31, 2009; 6Global figure; 7As of March 28, 2010; 8As of April 30, 2010; 9As of June 30, 2010; 10As of June 30, 2009.

Servindi. 19-11-2011 Fuente: http://servindi.org/actualidad/54521