FINLAND - Finnish mobile telephone manufacturer Nokia has today announced it will transfer its €1.2bn statutory pension liabilities to Ilmarinen and Varma in March next year.

A spokeswoman for the company told IPE this morning the €900m Nokia pension fund will go to Ilmarinen, while the €300m Nokia Siemens Networks fund will be transfered to Varma.

The board of directors of Nokian eläkesäätiö (Nokia Pension Fund) decided to transfer the funds' administration so "Nokia and Nokia Siemens Network can focus their human resources planning on more proactive measures such as maintaining and improving personnel's working capacity and well-being at work", the spokeswoman said.

According to the company, the transfer does not affect the level or scope of the statutory pension security and it does not have an impact on personnel at either Nokia or Nokia Siemens Networks.

These transfers are still subject to the approval of the Finnish Insurance Supervisory Authority, the boards of directors of the receiving pension companies and the employer companies who are participants in the pension fund.

According to this year's IPE TOP 1000 pension funds in Europe, Varma and Ilmarinen are Finland's two largest pension funds but Nokia will be the largest customer for both providers if the deals are approved, the spokeswoman added.

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