SWEDEN - Mats Langensjö, the head of Nordic institutional business at Pioneer Investments, is leaving the company as a result of a change in focus away from the defined contribution (DC) pension sector.

Elsewhere, Finansinspektionen, the Swedish regulator, has sent out a questionnaire to 19 pension providers about their fee structures, and Max Matthiessen Värdepapper and Länsförsäkringar Liv have hired a new chief investment officer and chairman, respectively.

Langensjö has left Pioneer as a result of a restucturing of the institutional business in line with a more "focused strategy", moving away from its earlier work on DC pensions.

The company said: "While we recognise the growing importance of DC and believe that the asset management industry has an important role in meeting the challenge, we believe that this would be a new business line for us involving significant commitment and we should instead concentrate our efforts on opportunities that fit with our established capabilities.

"Therefore, after careful consideration we have decided to suspend further development work on this project. We would like to thank Mats Langensjö for his valuable contribution to Pioneer Investments and wish him all the best for the future."

Jillert Blom, head of northern Europe, will take over the Nordic region in an expanded role, servicing existing Nordic clients and prospects from Pioneer's Dutch base. He will also take responsibility for the UK and Ireland.

Last month Paul Price, global head of Pioneer's institutional business, also left as a result of the restructuring of roles and responsibilities conducted by Roger Yates who joined as global chief executive earlier this year. The institutional team is now being organised under a geographical approach and will report to heads of geographical regions.

Eight life companies and 11 occupational pension providers have been asked by Swedish regulator to respond to a series of questions on their fees structures. The companies have until July 5, after which the material will be analysed and a report on the results is expected in October.

According to Göran Ronge, actuary at the regulator, the focus will be on the fee structure within the occupational pension system and the tender processes. He said the aim is to find out whether there is any merit in the arguments often raised that fees are too low to make it viable for the companies.

Max Matthiessen Värdepapper, the asset management arm of the Swedish pension and insurance provider, has hired Pia Hagen as CIO and fund manager.

Hagen joins from Skandia Fonder, the Skandia funds business, where she held similar positions. She will work with Christian Sterndahlen, fund manager also of Skandia Fonder, where he worked in a back office role and assistant fund manager to Hagen.

Karl-Olov Hammarkvist has been appointed as the new chairman of Länsförsäkringar Liv.

He replaces Sten Dunér who will remain as a board member. Hammarkvist is a professor at the Stockholm School of Economics and has been Länsförsäkringar Liv board since 2006.

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