IPE Nordic Briefing: Review of Sweden’s ITP occupational pension system

In Sweden, insurance and financial services provider Skandia has called for an independent review of the country’s ITP occupational pension system, in which the troubled pensions giant Alecta operates a default option.

Mattias Munter, pension economist at Skandia, has argued that such a review would give valuable perspectives on how the system could be developed to improve it for pension savers, business as well as society.

In its recent report on reforming the ITP system, Skandia indicated it would like the review to probe transparency in the system, as well as appraise the risks of having only one default option.

Sweden’s Fund Selection Agency (Fondtorgsnämnden) is looking for sustainability/ESG platforms for use in its own analysis of funds, and this week published a Request for Information to that end – ahead of a planned tender later this year.

The deadline for submitting a response to that RFI is 30 August.

The chief executive officer of Finland’s State Pension Fund (Valtion Eläkerahasto) – well-known for addressing larger economic and financial issues at home and abroad – says in his latest blog that better capital market infrastructure should be created in Europe to bolster innovation on the continent, by making European growth companies more attractive to institutional investors.

News that Europe now outperforms US on 10-year venture capital returns is ‘springboard’ for creation of better capital market infrastructure this side of the Atlantic, says Timo Löyttyniemi, VER’s CEO.

Timo Löyttyniemi is seizing on new statistics from Invest Europe which show that Europe now outperforms the US when it comes to 10-year venture capital returns, saying the turnaround in relative success for Europe is a springboard for getting things moving.

Danish pension provider Velliv has invested €94m in a new private equity impact fund from manager Nuveen, which focuses on helping reduce social inequality and negative effects on the climate.

Velliv chief investment officer Anders Stensbøl Christiansen, said the mutual pensions firm had shown it was possible to contribute to solving some of the world’s challenges – at the same time producing good returns for scheme members. 

Items to note:

• Swedish national pensions buffer fund AP2 and German sustainable finance think tank Climate & Company have launched a guide to help financial institutions exercise due diligence regarding the environmental problem of deforestation.
• ATP and PFA in Denmark have come up with a list of principles around initial public offerings, following a settlement in their long-running legal battle for compensation following the collapse of Danish shipping fuel firm OW Bunker back in 2014.

Rachel Fixsen

Nordic Correspondent