German Asset Manager Union Investment Plans to Bring Bitcoin to Its Private Wealth Clients: Report

German asset manager Union Investment on Monday revealed its plan to include bitcoin in a few of its investment funds, according to a published report.

An executive at the asset management firm told Bloomberg News the company will consider adding bitcoin to a number of investment funds available to its private investors, with a maximum bitcoin exposure of 2% of total assets for each fund. No fixed timeline was given for when the new investment strategy will be implemented but it could be as soon as the fourth quarter of this year.

The Frankfurt-based asset manager is the investment arm of DZ Bank Group and, according to its website, it had about €386 billion asset under management (US$457.6 billion) as of Dec. 30, 2020. The company suffered €243 million in losses when Wirecard filed for bankruptcy in June 2020, Financial Times reported on Aug. 15.

Union Investment’s announcement is the latest example of how crypto investment has become easier in Germany. This was made possible after Germany took a major step in July toward the crypto market after it passed a law that allows so-called spezialfonds (special funds) to allocate up to 20% of their capital in crypto assets.

As Germany is one of the biggest economies in the world, the news was cheered by many crypto startups and industry leaders at home and abroad.

At press time, bitcoin was changing hands at $51,755.27, up 2.08% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk 20 data.