The head of Denmark’s largest commercial pensions provider PFA has resigned after more than 13 years at the helm to take on more directorships and give strategic advice, the DKK425bn (€57bn) pensions company has said.

PFA’s chief executive Henrik Heideby will be leaving the group at the end of 2014, the company announced.

Heideby said: “For almost 30 years, I have been involved with board work in many different industries, from the construction sector to the medical devices business.”

He said he had the opportunity to expand his current portfolio in the next few years.

“However, it is not compatible with the job as chief executive, which is why I have decided to change careers at the end of the year with the agreement of the chairman,” Heideby said.

Svein Askær, PFA chairman, said the board had started the process of finding a replacement for Heideby.

“We expect to have them in place by year-end,” he said.

He said Heideby had been crucial to the success PFA had achieved over the past 10 years. 

“We are obviously sad to lose him, but also understand his choice, as Henrik has a lot of skills that will certainly be able to be used on a company’s board,” Askær said.

Heideby said there had been some very exciting and challenging years at PFA since he took the top position in the autumn of 2001 after the September 11 attacks on the US, which hit the business hard.

He said PFA now had a capital base of more than DKK28bn and total assets of nearly DKK425bn.

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