DENMARK - PensionDanmark, one of Denmark's leading labour-market pension funds, said its 2010 investment performance meant a 10.1% after-tax return for the average scheme member after 12.4% the year before.

The company made a return on investments of DKK10.2bn (€1.4bn), down slightly from DKK10.4bn.

Torben Möger Pedersen, managing director at PensionDanmark, said: "It has been a very satisfactory year for PensionDanmark. We have achieved a high level of profit on our investments and maintained our position as the most cost-effective pension company."

As a percentage of savings, costs had risen slightly to 2.2% in 2010 from 2.1% in 2009, equating to DKK362 per member after DKK354 the year before.

Möger Pedersen added that over the last five years members had seen a 42% after-tax return on their savings.

For members, the return on investment for 2010 varied between 9.8% and 12.9% depending on age. Members under 42 had a 12.9% pre-tax return, while those over 70 years old received 9.8%.

PensionDanmark's net profit rose to DKK386m in 2010 from a loss of DKK1.2bn in 2009.

The 2009 figures were marked by an insurance technical loss of DKK1.526.

Total assets climbed to DKK105.9bn by the end of 2010 from DKK88.3bn the year before.

Contributions rose to DKK10.37bn from DKK10.31bn.

Overall, membership rose to 595,000 by the end of 2010 from 577,500, helped by a rise of 25,000 in the amount of deferred pensioners.
 
Looking ahead, PensionDanmark forecast contributions would increase only marginally in 2011 because employment and wages within the sectors covering its membership were only expected to "develop in a limited way".

But it did predict slight growth in contributions in the following few years.

Among socially responsible investments, PensionDanmark mentioned its DKK700m investment in the Nysted offshore wind farm as part of an agreement with DONG Energy.

It said: "We see the Nysted agreement as a breakthrough that will lead to a series of similar contracts in the next few years."

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