SWEDEN – The SEK5bn (€550m) seventh Swedish national pension fund, AP7, has appointed fund manager Christian Ragnartz of the Central Bank, Sveriges Riksbank, as chief analyst.

Ragnartz succeeds Daniel Barr, who left AP 7 last year to join the premium pension authority, PPM, as chief economist.

Ragnartz is currently part of the Central Bank’s management team and runs its Japanese fixed income funds. The Central Bank has not yet announced a replacement for Ragnartz.

In his new capacity, which he starts from Monday, Ragnartz will monitor AP7’s investing strategy, liaising with consultants.

According to ‘International Pension Funds and their Advisors 2004’, AP7’s asset allocation is as follows: 17% goes to domestic equities, 65% to international equities, 10% to domestic fixed interest and 8% to domestic alternative investments, including hedge funds.

AP7, however, has not invested in the fund of hedge funds run by scandal-hit German manager Phoenix Kapitaldienst, according to AP7’s executive president, Peter Norman in an interview with IPE today.

According to the Swedish press, however, hundreds of Swedish private and institutional investors have entrusted funds to Frankfurt-based Phoenix Kapitaldienst, which is under investigation for accounting irregularities.

Phoenix Kapitaldienst has been instructed by regulator BaFin to stop trading after reportedly losing between €600m and €700m.

Topics