The new chief executive of Finnish local government and church pension fund Keva has resigned suddenly due to a crisis of confidence between him and the management board, the fund announced.

Anna-Kaisa Ikonen, chairman of the Keva board, said: “Unfortunately, Jukka Männistö’s term is very short. 

“I would like to thank Männistö for his cooperation with the board and for his role in implementing changes in the management of Keva.”

Keva, which has €41.5bn in investment assets, manages pensions for employees of local government, the state, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and benefits agency Kela. 

Keva said Männistö had handed in his letter of resignation to the board of directors on 30 September.

“The reason behind the resignation is a crisis of confidence between the board and CEO Männistö,” the pension fund said.

Ikonen was not immediately available for further comment.

The pension fund said the resignation would be put into effect once Keva’s council approved it, adding that the next council meeting would take place on 8 October.

But the process of appointing a new chief executive will begin immediately, it said, with the new leader likely to take up his or her post in the spring of 2016.

“Despite the resignation of the CEO, Keva will continue to operate without disruption,” Keva said.

Männistö’s appointment as chief executive was only announced last year in May

He was then taking over from Pekka Alanen, Keva’s deputy managing director, who had been acting as interim head following the resignation of Merja Ailus in November 2013.

Ailus had become caught up in a scandal involving accusations over personal expenses, taxes and benefits.

Following the scandal, Keva worked on reforming its management guidelines, saying it needed to develop a leadership culture by other means than just instructions and rules.