Abstract: This article examines the formation of institutional characteristics of pension investment of the Russian society. The goal lies in substantiation of feasibility of application of the institutional approach to relatively new elements of the Russian pension system – pension investment and formation of pension capital. The author observes the current social inquiry for the development of institutional practices of pension investment. The process of establishment of the institution of pension investment entail the manifestation of such aspects as: sources of the formation of institutions, sustainability, absence of violent fluctuations, share of the institutional norms by all its members, etc. Using the method of standardized mass survey within the framework of quantitative paradigm, the author carried out the applied sociological research, which involved the working-age population. The novelty of this work lies in the attempt of institutional determination of the new social institutions: pension investment and pension capital; classification of the “pension issue” into a separate field of sociological knowledge. The acquired results indicate the emergence of social groups that are ready for sustainable pension investment practices, as well as certain population groups that demonstrate nihilism in this regard. It is stated that the declared institutional approach is relevant to sphere of pension investment; however, the formation of sustainable social entities requires the legitimate conditions for including more extensive groups into the processes of formation of pension capital. The presented materials can be valuable for the dealing with similar social issues, used in lectures on the topic, as well as by government representatives of all levels.