German public and church supplementary pension schemes were among the top investors in special funds in the second quarter of 2026, according to consultancy firm Kommalpha.

Its analysis found that social security institutions and public/church supplementary pension schemes topped the list of special fund investors with €4.3bn of net inflows in Q2.

Kommalpha board member, Clemens Schuerhoff, said this was a “remarkable achievement” because social security institutions and public/church supplementary pension schemes represented a relatively small client group and had traditionally occupied a niche market.

Credit institutions took second place with €3.9bn of net inflows and corporates were in third with €3.5bn.

Kommalpha noted that the top three positions were held by investor segments that had historically had little impact on net new business in special funds.

Pension funds were the fourth largest investor in special funds with €3bn of net inflows.

This meant the largest investor category had recovered ‘somewhat’, although it was still far from reaching the growth rates of the 2010s.

The net funding received into special funds in the second quarter of 2026 was €11bn, which was €0.9bn below the quarterly average of the past three years.

In the first half of the year, net inflows into special funds totaled €19.4bn, representing a €3.2bn increase compared to the same period last year.

While this was a ‘solid’ first-half result compared to the recent past, particularly 2023 and 2025, against the longer-term historical results it was far off the half-year totals of €47.5bn in 2022 and €45.3bn in 2021.

"Based on a simple linear projection plus an estimated additional amount for the traditionally strong final quarter, net new business for 2026 will hover around the €50bn mark,” said Schuerhoff.

“That's certainly something we could live with.”

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