SWEDEN - SPK, the pension fund for the Swedish savings institutions, returned 8.5% for the full year 2010, which was in-line with the 8.4% return for the previous year.

The market value of SPK's assets versus commitments to its members was 166% and costs 0.16%, with costs for asset management at 0.02%.

In other news, Alecta's Optimal Pension returned 12.6% in 2010.

The popular pension product has returned 14.5% over three years, 10 percentage points above any comparable product in the Morningstar index.

Optimal Pension is a product that can be selected in many of the supplementary occupational pension systems in Sweden, but also the default option within ITP1, which caters for white-collar professionals.

Lastly, Collectum, the administrative entity for ITP, has appointed Dan Wallberg as pensions expert to increase the involvement in occupational pensions.

He will be available via a blog, where he will be giving tips and discussing current pension issues.

Collectum is a non-profit organisation and independent of any pension provider, which means it has nothing to gain if members select specific funds, Wallberg said, adding that his tips were therefore unbiased.

Wallberg has 25 years of experience in pensions.

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