​AP4 loses head of equities to Australian sovereign fund

Sweden’s AP4 has lost its head of global equities to Australia’s AUD118bn (€73.2bn) sovereign fund.

Björn Kvarnskog joined AP4 in 2008 and in June took a sabbatical from his role to complete a degree in business administration.

He will move to Melbourne in 2016 and become head of equities at the Future Fund, also joining the sovereign fund’s investment committee.

The Future Fund’s CIO Raphael Arndt said Sarah Carne, director of equities, would continue as interim head of equities until Kvarnskog’s arrival.

“I am delighted Björn is joining us and will bring his extensive experience in long-term investing and leadership to the Fund,” Arndt said.

“Bringing together different investment perspectives is enormously important to how we run the portfolio, and Björn will be a great addition to our thinking.”

At the Future Fund – which manages assets to pre-fund pension liabilities in addition to looking after funds devoted to the future financing of medical research, hospitals and school construction ­– Kvarnskog will oversee a listed equity portfolio worth AUD39bn, split between Australian equities and holdings in global and emerging markets.

Prior to his seven years at AP4, he was head of European equities at DNB NOR Asset Management, which he joined in 2005 after five years as senior portfolio manager at AP3.

He has also worked at Handelsbanken, Alfred Berg and JP Bank.