As Figure 21 reveals, a total of 61 percent of PIAC respondents rated this barrier as important (39 percent) or very important (22 percent). ). Small and medium-sized pension funds gave this barrier above-average emphasis (64 percent important/very important).

PIAC respondents tended to agree that weak support at the level of boards of trustees — and among managing fiduciaries — was frequently based on gaps in knowledge and little acquaintance with private capital markets. This is a natural outcome of boards being composed of diverse stakeholder representatives with diverse backgrounds. Interestingly, respondents felt that arguments made both for and against the idea of pension participation were often equally uninformed. Finally, trustee resistance is sometimes rooted in unfavourable past encounters (e.g., venture financing in the 1980s). One PIAC member noted the “long memory” of governing fiduciaries regarding these.

PIAC’s Effective Pension Plan Governance (1997) asserts the need of education in a model process of trustee selection and organization, a key element of which is capital market education. Some PIAC respondents to the survey similarly recommended educational programs that include primers on certain private capital markets. Of course, these will be most useful to pension funds currently in these markets or contemplating entry. Better flows to funds of quality information elucidating the nature of markets, genuine costs and risks, likely financial returns, and alternative strategies for expediting participation, were also proposed to strengthen decision-making at the level of pension boards and committees. Canadian market research firms and other sources are increasingly well-equipped to supply such data on a regular basis.