SWEDEN – The 126.6 billion-Swedish crown (13.7 billion-euro) Swedish reserve fund Forsta AP-fonden has hired a head of alternatives.

AP1 spokeswoman Nadine Viel Lamare said Sophia Ericsson joined the fund at the end of August from Lazard in Sweden.

AP1 managing director William af Sandeberg had signalled that the fund would allocate more assets to alternative investments in AP1’s half-year report.

“We have now decided to further increase the proportion of alternative investments and invest in private equity,” Sandeberg wrote.

Viel Lamare said the fund currently has a three percent allocation to alternatives. She said there was no exact figure yet for the possible size of its allocation in the future - though the allocation could reach 10% over “the very long run”.

She said that the fund’s board has not discussed hedge funds yet.

As part of its move into private equity, AP1 has decided to invest in Amaranth Capital, which invests in mid-size Nordic companies. Viel Lamare said AP1 has committed 75 million euros to Amaranth, though it has not invested yet. AP1 would invest in private equity via funds, and would probably not put everything in one fund.

In August AP1 said its year-long strategy to maintain a high proportion of equities had paid off and that it returned 6.6% in the first half.

Topics