Folksam LO Pension, a subsidiary of Swedish pensions and insurance group Folksam, described as “a milestone” the move by the four Swedbank Robur funds used by its members to exclude all fossil fuel companies from 1 January.

The funds – Folksam LO Sverige (Sweden), Folksam LO Världen (world), Folksam LO Väst (West) and Folksam LO Obligation (bond) – make up around 70% of the assets of Folksam LO Pension, which offers unit-link occupational pensions under the blue-collar collective wage agreement SAF-LO and the public sector pact KAP-KL.

Altogether SEK128bn (€12.7bn) of assets were managed in Folksam LO Pension at the end of November.

Mia Liblik, chief executive officer of Folksam LO Pension, said: “It is extremely gratifying now to be able to tell our customers that the Folksam LO funds no longer contain the production of fossil fuels.”

Liblik said this was “a milestone in our sustainability work”, with the new blacklist also encompassing investments in unconventional fossil fuels such as Arctic oil and gas, shale oil and gas and oil sands.

“It is completely in line with the development we want to see, and is something we are actively working on,” she said.

Mia Liblik at Folksam

Mia Liblik, chief executive officer of Folksam LO Pension

Folksam LO Sweden is the largest Swedish investment fund on the domestic market, according to Folksam.

Folksam LO Pension customers account for 80% of the assets managed in Swedbank Robur’s four Folksam LO-branded funds, which are also open to other investors.

Folksam and its public-sector subsidiary KPA Pension, meanwhile, do not have general exclusion policies for fossil fuel companies, but do have certain limits. Folksam is a member of the steering group of the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance.

Folksam and KPA Pension ban firms where more than 30% of revenue comes from coal, as well as companies with more than 10% of sales from oil sands, according to a spokeswoman for the group, who also said Folksam had reduced its exposure to the energy sector within its international equity portfolio by around 50%.

“The world is still dependent on these energy sources, and we want to be a responsible owner and support these companies in their climate transition efforts over the coming decades,” she said.

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