Nordea Investment Management has once more topped the ranking of asset managers within Denmark, according to IPE’s Top 400 Asset Managers survey for 2014, with Danske Capital in second place and PFA Pension narrowing the gap as the country’s number three.
Seen internationally, Nordea Investment Management rose to number 71 in the 2014 league table of the Top 400 Asset Managers from number 74 in 2013, while Danske Capital rose to number 94 from 102, and PFA Pension leapt to 143 from 165.
Assets under management (AUM) at Nordea Investment Management rose to around €151bn at the end of 2013 from €141bn a year before, according to the data complied by IPE based on information provided by the individual companies and from public sources.
Meanwhile, Danske Capital came second once more, with assets having risen to €97bn from €90bn, followed by PFA Pension, which saw assets rise particularly rapidly during 2013 to €56bn from €43bn.
| Company | 2014 Total | 2013 Total |
|---|---|---|
| 31/12/13 (€m) | 31/12/12 (€m) | |
| Nordea Investment Management | 151,418 | 140,644 |
| Danske Capital | 96,597 | 90,045 |
| PFA Pension | 55,895 | 43,135 |
| Nykredit Asset Management | 15,629 | 14,004 |
| Jyske Bank Capital Management | 11,300 | - |
| Carnegie Asset Management | 11,000 | 9,300 |
| BankInvest | 8,391 | 8,416 |
| Jyske Invest Fund Management | 8,073 | - |
| Gudme Raaschou Asset Management | 7,263 | - |
| Maj invest | 5,711 | 5,168 |
Jesper Langmack, managing director at PFA Asset Management (PFA Kapitalforvaltning), told IPE: “The main driver of our increasing AUM, PFA Pension, successfully launched a new defined contribution platform in 2009 attracting several new corporate clients.”
PFA Asset Management – the investment management arm of the PFA group – had experienced significant growth in assets under management in recent years, he said.
“The success of PFA Pension is expected to continue driving AUM growth this year and in the coming years as well,” Langmack said.
“Similarly, we expect both our institutional and retail fund range to continue contributing to asset growth going forward.”
At the beginning of 2013, PFA also took over Danish clerical workers’ pension fund FunktionærPension.
Niels-Ulrik Mousten, head of Danske Capital, attributed the business growth seen at the Danske Bank asset management division last year to the strength of markets outside Denmark.
“In the first quarter of 2014 alone, 71% of net sales are from countries outside Denmark,” he said.
He said this development underlined the fact Danske Capital had become an overall export business.
Right now, the division is managing assets for Danish and foreign investors on the private as well as the professional sides of around DKK748bn, which means assets have crossed the €100bn line for the the first time.
Mousten described it as “realistic” to think Danske Capital’s level of growth seen so far could continue.
Nordea Investment Management also attributed its growth during 2013 in large part to business expansion outside Denmark.
Allan Polack, chief executive of Nordea Investment Management, said: “Global equities, euro credit products and total return products – these are the three growth areas for us that lie behind the global sales.”
Business from Southern Europe was very strong, he said, with this development most likely reflecting a shift by investors from local asset managers to more international asset managers.
“Looking ahead, we’re pretty optimistic, particularly regarding international growth, basically because our product offering suits what’s going on,” Polack said.
He said there was a lot of interest from clients in absolute risk management, as they aimed to take on more risk but in a controlled way.
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