Norway’s sudden withdrawal of the ethical investment rules for its sovereign wealth fund last week – with temporary rules put in place while new guidelines are devised by an expert panel – has created quite a stir both at home and abroad.
Jens Stoltenberg, the finance minister, seems to have mainly been acting to avert a situation under the old ethical framework where the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) could have been forced to divest some of its heavy investments in big technology companies. But the government also won, under Stoltenberg’s plan, parliament’s instruction to take more rapid action on the fund’s investments when changes – for example, as a result of war – happen quickly.
Leading academics in Norway have heralded Stoltenberg’s swift and decisive action as good for bolstering the GFPG’s hitherto successful model of index-near investment, saying large, “arbitrary” exclusions threatened that.
Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the GPFG’s manager, continues to make its voice heard as a part-owner of most major listed companies around the globe. In its published voting intentions for the Tesla annual general meeting, NBIM opposed the $1trn pay package the electric car giant argued was needed to secure the continued loyalty of its chief executive officer Elon Musk. Although the historic executive pay deal ended up being approved by the AGM anyway.
In Denmark, the country’s pensions lobby issued a warning that European and Danish authorities need to improve business competitiveness to attract more of the DKK400bn (€54bn) of new Danish pensions money that is set to be invested by pension funds between now and 2030. IPD’s CEO Kent Damsgaard said many investors are continuing to look towards the US rather than Europe, because returns have simply been better there – despite the good political intentions in Europe over the past year to remove burdens and increase competitiveness.
Sweden’s national pensions buffer fund system is set to lose one of its long-term leaders next year, with Eva Halvarsson – CEO of AP2 in Gothenburg – to retire next year after 20 years in the role, it was recently confirmed.
It is all systems go for the five buffer funds right now, as they work to carry out the buffer funds reform, which stipulates that two of the funds – AP1 and AP6 – are merged into the remaining three by the end of this year.
With AP2 set to become a significantly larger fund at the turn of the year, as it absorbs the assets of private equity specialist AP6, it will also be embarking on the search for a new CEO.
Items to note:
- IPE’s forthcoming November/December issue of the recently redesigned magazine will feature the Nordic Report – containing in-depth coverage of pension fund developments in the region, including an exit interview with Timo Löyttyniemi, retiring CEO of the State Pension Fund of Finland.
- On 4 December, the IPE Conference & Awards 2025 will take place in Seville, showcasing and rewarding excellence in Europe’s pensions industry.
Rachel Fixsen
Nordic Correspondent
This news briefing was published earlier in the week. If you would like to receive it regularly, on your IPE profile, go to My Newsletters and select any from the list.
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