By the end of this year the Swedish Lutheran church is going to be divorced from the state. This means that all past and present pensions liabilities are to be taken over by the church. Altogether the total liabilities for pastors, parish-employees and white-collar workers in the central administration of the church in Uppsala, amount to some Skr4bn (E448m).
The road taken towards a swift future administration has been to plan an insurance association, which is to take the liabilities over from the state and the respective parishes. The association will have an initial cash value of some Skr2.5-3bn when all employers have settled their dues.
The association has recently opened up a tender regarding pensions administration for some 40,000 em-ployees, adhering to mainly three different unions. Negotiations between unions and employers will start in the spring, seeking to establish a new treaty with identical pensions terms for all employed by the church.
“We also consider taking care of our own administration by employing sufficient staff in the association,” says Lars Skold, responsible for church finances at the church central organisation in Uppsala.
Apart from insurance administration the association would like to be aided by three different asset managers. The tender has been sent to a limited number of Swedish pension administrators and insurance companies.
It is still in question whether Kammarkollegiet, the government’s own asset management organisation, can continue managing the church foundation with Skr5bn in assets. Mikael Nyman

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