institutional pension portfolio managers dont want to dabble in bitcoin direct.
for their own regulated and insured treasuries they can only invest in other regulated and insured assets/companies
so that is where ETF trusts are to be created
whereby the ETF trust(company) holds bitcoin and values the ETFtrust(company) at the amount of bitcoin held.. and offers regulated and insured shares of the trust(company) where the share value a division of the value of the collateral(bitcoin value) held within
Why don't pension portfolio managers want to dabble in Bitcoin direct?
pensions. have to have a high standard of fund security to reduce cost and minimise loss..
much higher standard than just plain 'investing'
so pension funds have portfolio in hi-grade secured/high standard regulated investment options
because they are protected by investing in other regulated companies. it pushes the risk/loss liability off them.
having direct holding of raw asset is a risk. costing them more on their insurance and liabilities, licenes, auditing etc
EG. just take the insurance part
imagine you had bitcoin hoard of $1m. to insure it under ur home insurance its a $1m liability. causing you a high premium.
but have shares in a bitcoin company collateral. where they have insurance. means if your 'shares' are lost. you can then claim on their insurance. meaning your own insurance for your share holdings wont be as high
because your more protected. and chances are you will get funds back from any losses via the third party insurance
EG just take the regulation
hoarding bitcoin would mean you have to KYC and taint analyse your incoming deposits. as you are liable for any AML.
however have shares in another company that hoards bitcoin where that company is regulated. means you dont have to KYC so heavily and dont have the licencing and auditing costs that come with it. because the other company is doing that before you
EG take the liabilities.
if you hoard bitcoin. and a thief/hacker stole them from your house.. all your customers would sue you. and your in bankruptcy. however have shares in a company that hoards coin. your not directly liable and its passed down to the other party, which falls onto their insurance. and their liquidity. protecting you
its all about several layers of protection, cost reduction of admin/insurance. and also if bitcoin goes up by 10% and the company trust share goes up by 10% .. why invest in bitcoin when you can invest in a more regulated share system with less management costs and still get the same market movement offers