Finland’s biggest pension fund, Keva, said it wants to offer itself as a long-term, domestic ownership option for energy infrastructure assets – a sector where it said foreign investors are very active – and is currently on the look out for new investment opportunities in Finland more generally.

The head of the €53bn public sector pension fund has said in a blog that it is important that Finland identifies new funding options for transport infrastructure besides traditional state financing to increase national competitiveness, and said Keva was actively involved in such work.

Timo Kietäväinen, president and CEO of Keva, said: “Owning listed Finnish companies is only one tool with which Finnish occupational pension operators can strengthen the success of our country.”

He said around a fifth of the pension fund’s investments are in Finland, and as well as equities, Keva was also targeting domestic investments such as corporate and government loans, rental apartments, hotels, various office and retail premises and funds investing in domestic companies.

“We are actively looking for new destinations in Finland all the time,” Kietäväinen said.

Keva had made new investments in transport infrastructure financing and the energy sector, he said, citing as the most recent example the fund’s deal earlier this summer to buy a local district heating business in the Järvenpää-Tuusula area of Finland from European energy firm Fortum, alongside Vantaa Energy and Infranode.

“It is worth noting that in the energy sector (energy production and distribution networks), foreign investors are also very active. Keva wants to offer a long-term, domestic ownership option,” the pension fund chief said.

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