ATP has poached Pernille Vastrup, the chief financial officer of labour-market pension provider Sampension, to join its own executive board in the same role, in an appointment completing the new leadership team under chief executive officer Martin Præstegaard.

In the announcement from Denmark’s largest pension fund today, Præstegaard praised Vastrup for having many qualities, including that of a good communicator.

Præstegaard, who took over from Bo Foged as CEO of the statutory pension fund this summer, said: “Pernille knows pensions and the entire financial industry like the back of her hand, and has the solid experience needed to handle a wide range of responsibilities at the ATP group.”

Vastrup is due to take up her new role next April, ATP said.

The CEO said she was good at setting up frameworks and structures that provided transparency and clarity, and she had a toolbox that enabled her to ensure good financial management in both the pension and administration parts of ATP’s work.

“On a personal level, Pernille is an organised and ambitious person as well as an outgoing and skilled communicator,” he said.

The pension fund said the addition of Vastrup marked the end of the adjustment of the organisation that began in August, aimed at preparing it for further digitisation – including the hire of Haktan Bulut as chief information technology officer, a newly-created role, at the beginning of October.

Vastrup said: “I am looking forward to collaborating with my many new talented colleagues and taking on the CFO position for a company with such great social significance as ATP.”

The incoming ATP CFO spent 15 years at Nykredit before working as Sampension’s CFO, according to ATP.

The DKK676.9bn (€91bn) pension fund has suffered steep losses this year, with its return-seeking investment portfolio – which is leveraged by borrowing from its ATP’s much larger bond-based hedging portfolio – losing 45.2% of its value by the end of September.

When Vastrup joins in April, ATP’s group management team will consist of six people, including Præstegaard – chief investment officer Mikkel Svenstrup; chief risk officer Kim Kehlet Johansen; Anne Kristine Axelsson, head of pension and social security; Bulut and Vastrup.

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Rachel is IPE's Nordic correspondent. She has long been a freelance writer, and over the years, has written for The Telegraph, The Independent, The Observer, AMWatch and elsewhere. In 2001, Rachel's personal finance book Kickstart Your Money was published by John Wiley & Sons.View full Profile

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