IPE Awards: APG wins European Pension Fund of the Year

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APG was named European Pension Fund of the Year at tonight’s IPE Awards 2023 ceremony in Vienna.

The Dutch pension investor has also bagged the ESG Strategy and Stewardship & Engagement awards. It states it takes ESG factors into account in every investment it makes, and its responsible investment approach consists of a set of policies and instruments including inclusion, exclusion, sustainable development investments, climate risk policy, engagement and voting, among others.

“A true industry leader, pioneer and a frontrunner in integrated, systematic and active ESG policies with very good long-term investment results and active engagement in all areas,” said one of the judges for the IPE awards panel.

outsdanding winners

Richard Gröttheim (left), with IPE CEO Mariska van der Westen (centre), and Janko Gorter (right) of DNB receiving the award on behalf of Else Bos

Notably, Else Bos and Richard Gröttheim take this year’s Outstanding Industry Contribution award.

For almost 20 years Bos worked for ABN-Amro Bank in various roles including financial accounting, planning and control, consumer banking, private banking, operations and IT. In 2001 she left the bank to join NIB and later on became the CEO of Dutch pension fund PGGM.

Bos has worked at DNB, Netherlands’ central bank, since 2018 as a member of the executive board and chair of Prudential Supervision. Her responsibilities include the supervision of pension funds and insurers and DNB’s digital supervision strategy. She is a member of the board of supervisors and of the management board of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA).

Bos will soon leave her position at DNB to pursue her career in a different direction.

As for Gröttheim, the former CEO of Swedish AP7, has spent his last 22 years with the fund. In a recent interview, he said he views his role at the pension fund with ”great humility” for the trust shown in him because of the importance of the premium pension system, which for many will be a lifeline in retirement.

He has emphasised the importance of having a long-term perspective, and the scheme was one of the pioneers to have created ‘black lists’ of companies it would divest from.

Gold Awards	Winner
Commitment to Diversity	Railpen
Long-Term Investment Strategy	Fjärde AP-fonden (AP4)
Pension Fund Team of the Year	Railpen
Outstanding Industry Contribution	Else Bos
Outstanding Industry Contribution	Richard Gröttheim
European Pension Fund of the Year	APG

Silver Awards	Winner
Active Management	Bosch Pensionsfonds
Corporate Pension Fund	Pensionskasse Manor
Multi-Employer/ Professional Pension Fund	Nest
Passive Management	Eurolife – Smart Future Occupational Pension Plan
Public Pension Fund	Fjärde AP-fonden (AP4)
Small Pension Fund	Sava Pension Company a.d. Skopje

Meanwhile, Bundespensionskasse and VBV Group won the leading pension fund award for Austria, the country location of this year’s IPE Conference & Awards.

The 2023 IPE Awards attracted more than 340 entries across 40 categories representing 22 countries, with participating investors managing €1.89trn in assets. Some 83 judges were involved in assessing entries, each bringing specialist expertise or knowledge in a particular category.

Among the 549 overall delegates, there were 252 executives from pension funds and other asset owners.

Find out about all the winners in IPE’s dedicated Awards Supplement.