IPE Awards (Bronze, Silver & Gold): PensionDanmark wins European fund of the year

PensionDanmark, winner of yesterday’s award for Denmark, has been named European Pension Fund of the Year for the IPE 2020 awards.

A judge said: “With strong ESG credentials and a sound investment strategy with solid execution, PensionDanmark consistently comes up with market leading and outstanding innovation in different aspects of its asset allocation.”

PensionDanmark is Denmark’s largest labour market pension fund and one of the 50 largest pension funds in Europe.

It offers defined contribution pensions, insurance policies and healthcare schemes on the basis of collective agreements covering approximately 710,000 individuals employed in 26,000 companies in the private and public sector.

PensionDanmark’s long-term investment objective is to ensure the highest possible buying power of members’ pension savings.

Accepting the award, CEO Torben Möger Pedersen, said: “It’s the third time we receive this prestigious award, which will encourage us to further increase our efforts to deliver good pensions to our many members and, at the same time, try to improve the world we live in.”

A special award to recognise an individual who has made a lasting and influential legacy in Europe’s – if not the world’s – pension sector, is the Lifetime Achievement Award.

It was awarded to Peter Borgdorff who has served the Dutch pensions community for many years, most recently as director of PFZW, the Dutch care sector pension fund.

“Peter has always told it like it is, in a relatable way but with a human face, treating everybody as an equal and talking down to nobody. He will be very much missed by his friends in the Netherlands and internationally. Congratulations Peter on your retirement and wishing you all the best for the future,” said a judge.

Borgdoff said: “I’m very glad to receive the lifetime achievement award from IPE. It makes me very, very proud.” He added that he sees the award as a reward for 20 years of working in the pensions sector in the Netherlands and in Europe.

The Pension Fund Leader of the Year award recognises a top-level executive or team at a pension fund – the receipient for this is was Magnus Billing, CEO at Alecta.

Magnus, indeed a well-respected figure in the pensions industry, as a judge said: “Magnus Billing is a trailblazer whose work has had influence on many other institutional investors. In particular his unrelenting focus on ESG deserves a recognition as a role model.”

He said that winning the award was “a true recognition of the Alecta’s team hard work to position Alecta in the sustainability area as an asset owner.”

You can still register here for access to all sessions, presentations and videos shown during the IPE Conference & Awards 2020.