​AMF tight-lipped on possible overhaul as equities leaders change

AMF, Sweden’s second-biggest occupational pension fund, has announced major staff changes within its equities team, hiring a top Volvo executive to lead international equities management - while losing the equities chief who has overseen the asset class for the past decade.

John Hernander, currently head of investor relations at Volvo Cars, will join AMF on 1 October, a spokesperson for the SEK849bn (€76bn) pension provider confirmed to IPE.

Hernander will be responsible for managing AMF’s foreign equities, the spokesperson said, adding this was a new role at the fund.

Hernander will be returning to the pension provider he worked at for six years until 2013 - a phase when he was head of research and then equities portfolio manager. Subsequently, he worked at Nordea Asset Management, latterly as CIO, before moving to Volvo in 2022.

The recruitment follows news from AMF last week that Anders Oscarsson, the pension fund’s head of equities and stewardship, is leaving at the end of September.

Katarina Romberg, AMF’s CIO and chief executive officer of the the Stockholm-based firm’s fund management arm, said Oscarsson had been an inspiring force and a strong voice for the capital AMF managed.

“We are happy and grateful that Anders will continue to be part of AMF during a transitional period, where he represents us on several nomination committees and boards,” Romberg said.

Neither AMF nor Oscarsson have announced what he will do following the end of the transition period.

In response to a question as to whether AMF was changing the way it managed its equities - given the creation of a new role leading foreign equities management - the spokesperson said: “We have not communicated any more far-reaching changes to our organisation at this stage.”

Reporting its 2024 annual results back in February, AMF said it had increased the proportion of equities in the portfolio last year, which had contributed positively to the overall return.