Gustaf Hagerud, the third AP fund’s vice-president and head of asset management, has left and relocated to London after six years with the state buffer fund.
Hagerud is set to manage a global equity and bond fund in the UK, as well as become partner in his new firm.
AP3 confirmed his departure in a statement posted on the fund’s website.
He leaves AP3 amid doubts over the future of the fund as the Swedish government accepted recommendations to reduce the number of funds from five to three.
The five funds, AP 1 through 4 and AP6, have been under review since 2011, with the final findings recommending the closure of two funds to increase cost efficiencies.
AP3, alongside fellow funds 1, 2 and 4, all invest in a range of real assets and listed equities and bonds, whereas AP6 focuses entirely on private equity.
In the final report, it was suggested the three remaining funds closely coordinate their investments in the unlisted space, either through collaboration or by investment in unlisted ventures to be “concentrated” into one fund.
It is also expected one of the Gothenburg-based funds, AP2 or AP6, will survive given the report’s stance on retaining one fund in Sweden’s second city.
AP6 won praise in the report for its innovative investment approach and its speciality in private equity investing.
Given this, it is likely one of the Stockholm-based funds – AP1, AP3 or AP4 – will close, with the assets of the two closed funds distributed among the remaining three.
AP4 had performed the best on a 10-year average return basis.
In August, Hagerud’s former chief executive, Kerstin Hessius, strongly criticised the report’s recommendations, suggesting the closure of two of the funds could have a negative impact on both current and future pensions in Sweden.
Between the buffer funds, they have contributed SEK90bn (€9.8bn) to Sweden’s mandatory pay-as-you-go pension system, Hessius said.
The review to decide which two funds are closed is ongoing, although a response will depend on the outcome of Sunday’s general election, with polls showing the opposition Social Democrats Party in the lead.
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