AFP Protección, Colombia's second-largest pension fund administrator, has confirmed plans to launch an investment fund offering controlled exposure to Bitcoin (BTC). The initiative, announced by company president Juan David Correa, represents a significant but cautious step toward institutional cryptocurrency adoption within the country's private pension savings system.
The product is designed not for short-term speculation but as a long-term diversification tool. Access will be strictly limited through a personalized advisory process that assesses each investor's income, savings goals, and risk tolerance. Only qualified participants who meet internal criteria will be allowed to allocate a small, optional portion of their portfolio to Bitcoin. Correa emphasized that exposure will remain limited and voluntary, with no client encouraged to take on risk beyond their comfort level.
Protección manages over 220 trillion Colombian pesos (approximately $55 billion) for more than 8.5 million clients nationwide. The firm's scale lends considerable weight to this move. The announcement follows a similar step by Skandia Administradora de Fondos de Pensiones y Cesantías, making Protección the second major pension administrator in Colombia to explore digital assets.
The broader context includes Colombia's mandatory pension system, which holds 527.3 trillion pesos in assets, with nearly half invested abroad. This institutional interest is expanding alongside tighter regulatory oversight. Colombia's tax authority, DIAN, has introduced mandatory reporting rules for crypto service providers, aligning with the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework to enable automatic cross-border tax information exchange.
Despite this new offering, traditional investments like fixed income and equities will continue to dominate pension portfolios. Bitcoin exposure is positioned as a minor, carefully controlled add-on focused on portfolio balance and structured risk management.
