Sweden’s biggest pension provider Alecta has created a new role – head of sustainability – reflecting the expansion of its work on sustainability issues beyond investment. 

Carina Silberg has been appointed to the new role and will work within the communication and sustainability department.

Alecta created the new role in order to improve the organisation of the company’s work on sustainability issues, but it also reflected the fact that Alecta’s work on sustainability has been increasing, a spokesman for the company said.

In the second half of last year, the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and PTK – the parties in charge of procurement for the white collar collective agreement pension plan Alecta manages – announced that they planned to focus more sharply on sustainability.

Magnus Billing, chief executive of Alecta, said the company was “far ahead” in terms of responsible investment, but added that sustainability could involve more than that.

“For us it’s about how, as a company, we behave towards our stakeholders – customers, employees, partners, and suppliers, but also how we as an important stakeholder in society act and contribute to a good society in the future,” he said.

PTK is a joint organisation of 26 affiliated unions representing salaried employees in the private sector.

Silberg, who will start the job on 13 March, will be responsible for setting the overall strategy, aims, and processes for monitoring Alecta’s overall sustainability efforts, the company said.

Her tasks will include determining how Alecta will work with the UN’s Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and the 17 sustainability objectives it involves.

She will also lead the cross-departmental sustainability group at Alecta, with participants from different parts of the business, including asset management, where Peter Loöw will continue to lead work on responsible investments.

Last year, Billing was appointed to lead a working group within the European Commission’s High Level Group on sustainable investments.

Silberg is joining Alecta from corporate communications firm Hallvarsson & Halvarsson, where she was responsible for the agency’s corporate social responsibility business. She has also worked as an analyst on sustainability at GES Investment Services.

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