PFA, Denmark’s biggest commercial pensions provider, has said it made a 21% return on holdings of Danish shares in the first half of this year, and expects the growth to continue in the second half.
Jesper Langmack, director of the firm’s investment division PFA Asset Management, said: “It has been a really good first half for our investments in Danish shares, and this has been driven particularly by our investments in a range of big companies such as Novo Nordisk, Danske Bank and Coloplast.”
The 21% return equates to a profit of more than DKK2bn (€134m) in absolute terms, said PFA, which has around DKK417bn in assets under management.
The domestic equities market outperformed shares elsewhere in Europe, which rose by an average 6% over the same period.
PFA customers with savings in unit-link product PFA Plus benefited in particular, Langmack said, with the allocation to Danish shares in its highest risk pool – PFA Plus profile D – having been raised to 18% from 8% at the beginning of 2013.
Langmack said this allocation was increased because PFA took the view that several of the country’s largest stocks had the potential for high returns.
Following the returns over the last six months, PFA now has a total of DKK15bn invested in Danish equities.
Langmack said the second half would also see prices rise on the domestic stock market, albeit at a slower pace.
“We expect the return on Danish equities to be in single figures for the second half of the year,” he said.
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