What the judges said: “Since 2001 PBU has made a giant leap forward which now allows it to be ambitious and search for best practice in all aspects of running a pension fund. Here is a winner.”
When the news broke at Denmark’s fledgling PBU pension fund that it had won the IPE fund country administration award, the director general broke out the champagne. “Winning this award is more than just an acknowledgement of all the hard work we put into establishing PBU, but vindication of it,” says Leif Brask-Rasmussen, managing director at the fund.
Rasmussen believes the major turnaround PBU has achieved in its solvency levels through technical restructuring was key to the judges’ decision. “We had to practically overhaul the fund’s organisation in order to isolate and solve the problems we faced in honouring the high yield guarantees during a period of low solvency. This undertaking coupled with the fact that it is the first time a pension fund in Denmark has done this is probably what swayed the judges in their decision,” he comments. He adds that other funds in Denmark are now following suit and this is further acknowledgement of the hard work and dedication of everyone concerned at PBU.
Rasmussen adds that the restructuring of the fund has also reduced administration costs by around 30%.
He feels the award presents PBU with an excellent opportunity to get its name on the map internationally. “The award goes way beyond honouring the work we have put in thus far. Through IPE’s Europe-wide readership we will achieve a high level of exposure and we will be in a position to court asset management firms all over the continent,” he says.
PBU’s forward-thinking attitude means the company has set itself new goals in light of the award. “We are currently formulating our investment strategy and hope we can go one step further next time and win the investment strategy award as well,” says Rasmussen.
“Overall we feel honoured and proud to have received this award. It’s great that such a new organisation should receive this recognition and we certainly intend to build on that success in the future,” he comments.

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