Pension Fund Implosion Raises Scrutiny of €300 Billion Industry

Berlin dentists entrusted €2.2 billion ($2.6 billion) in retirement savings to a group of colleagues with more experience filling cavities than managing money. Now half of it is gone.

Headed by a committee of half a dozen dentists and oral surgeons, their pension fund plowed more than 70% of its assets into private loans, stakes in unlisted companies and property investments. Several struggled or went bust, from a California plastic recycler to a northern German shrimp farm and a Berlin insurance startup. In some cases, it poured good money after bad, enabling companies to pay interest on other debt, according to a court filing ...