Greenwich Associates conducted a study on German institutions .. some quotes from the study:

“The low interest rate environment makes it impossible to meet return targets. We have not yet found a solution.” — German Public Pension Fund.

“Low interest rates are a problem. As a reaction, we have globalized our investments and invested in higher risk asset classes.” — German Foundation

“Primary challenge is the low interest rates. The only chance to avoid this is to do things you didn’t do before.” — German Insurer.

For many institutions in Germany, “doing things they didn’t do before” means investing significant amounts of assets in something other than domestic & government bonds.