SWEDEN - AP6, one of Sweden's national buffer funds, has sold its interests in Repairshop, a repair company for mopeds, after suffering losses of SEK40m (€4.3m) over the last two years, according to reports in the Swedish press. 

AP6 went in as a large owner three years ago, declining to give the specifics of its investments.

Earlier in the week, AP appointed a new chief executive, Marianne Dicander Alexandersson.

Meanwhile, in its first meeting since the election in September, Pensionsgruppen, a cross-party working group on pensions, discussed the possibility of increasing the retirement age from 67 to 69.

While there seems to be consensus among the parties that increasing the retirement age is a necessity, there is little agreement on how exactly it should be done. 

The Social Democratic party wants to improve the workplace environment and rehabilitation possibilities at the same time as increasing retirement age, issues that are beyond the scope of the working group, so a lengthy wrangling of potential routes can be expected.

In other news, Swedes are largely unaware of how much fees affect their final pensions, according to a survey by KPA Pension.

One in three respondents concede they do not consider fees when selecting pension providers, yet the difference between the cheapest and most expensive varies significantly.

According to KPA, a 25 year old earning SEK25,000 a month will receive anything between SEK866,155 and just over SEK1m once all fees have been deducted - a difference of more than SEK140,000.

More than 40% of respondents have never checked the amount of fees they pay to their pension providers. 

Those between the ages of 23 and 35 have the least knowledge, despite paying fees for another 30-40 years, as more than half have never checked the fee levels.

Men are somewhat more interested in checking fees than women.

In a separate event, KPA has announced that its active ownership is paying off.

KPA Pension is one of several institutional investors - such as Folksam, Robur and the Swedish Church and environmental organisations such as Greenpeace and WWF - that have pressured Statoil, the Norwegian oil and gas company, to sell its Canadian oil sands investments.

Statoil has now agreed to sell 40% of its holdings.

Critics of oil sand - also referred to as tar sand - argue that the environmental impact and high economic risks involved make it incompatible with an ethical and environmental investment approach.

Sofia Hagman, head of CSR investments at KPA, said she was optimistic that Statoil would continue divesting from the sector and focus more on renewable energy.

Lastly, SPP and Storebrand have selected the best-in-class companies within the oil and gas sector, and only three companies have made it this year: BG Group, Cairn Energy and Santos.

Those who have lost the award are Statoil, Shell, BP, Talisman and Occidental. 

SPP and Storebrand also removed three unnamed companies from their investments due to their poor environmental and social track records.
 

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