Nordic pension funds – Danish ones in particular – made their voices heard on Arctic protection after it emerged the European Commission was reconsidering its opposition to new oil and gas development in the region.
KLP in Norway and Danish pension funds, including Sampension, Velliv, P+ and AkademikerPension, added their names to an open letter to EU administration chiefs late last month urging the bloc to “maintain and reinforce its commitment to protect the fragile ecosystems north of the Arctic Circle from new oil and gas infrastructure”.
Jacob Ehlerth Jørgensen, Sampension’s head of ESG, said the pension fund knew wars in Ukraine and Iran had increased Europe’s need for a secure energy supply, but said new oil and gas extraction in the Arctic was the wrong way to go.
Partly in an effort to meet European green energy equipment needs, Danish pension fund manager PKA invested in Norwegian firm Morrow Batteries back in 2021. But last month the Arendal-based startup announced it would file for bankruptcy, leaving PKA with a DKK388m (€52m) loss on its overall investment.
Morrow Batteries blamed oversupply in a more competitive global battery market, the higher cost of capital, plus delays in the industrialisation process, for its downfall. Meanwhile, PKA’s CEO Jon Johnsen called for state support for investments key to Europe’s green transition and defence needs.
“We want to support Europe. We want to contribute to the green transition. But the fine words from politicians must be converted into real action,” he said.
The Morrow story echoes the demise of Swedish battery hope Northvolt, which left the country’s main buffer funds with big investment losses – and questions around how they had invested in the first place.
In the wake of that, the Swedish government said at the end of May it will now work on the legislative framework around how the national pensions buffer funds invest in illiquid assets, taking in recommendations from external consultant Arkwright.
Among other things, Arkwright said the AP funds needed to boost staffing for their alternative investment operations, with the expansion by the buffer funds into illiquid assets having been slow since their mandate was changed eight years ago to allow them to do more.
Items to note:
- Alecta’s CEO Peder Hasslev is retiring this autumn, having steered the Swedish pensions giant through a 2023 bad investments crisis. The board is using a recruitment firm to hire a new CEO, with both internal and external candidates being considered.
- IPE Iceland 2026 will take place on 14 October in Reykjavik – a one-day forum dedicated to senior Icelandic pension fund investors.
Rachel Fixsen
Nordic Correspondent
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