LD Pensions, which runs two atypical non-contributory pension funds in Denmark, has reported an investment loss for its key LD Discretionary (LD Vælger) product of 8.5% for the first half of this year, and said it is reducing equity risk, despite its long-term focus.

Releasing its interim report for January to June, the Frederiksberg-based pensions manager said the result reflected the general market development with falling stock markets and rising interest rates.

Lars Mayland Nielsen, chief executive officer of LD Pensions, said: “For the rest of the year, the financial markets are expected to continue to be marked by great uncertainty.

“Our objective is to create a stable return over a longer time horizon, but in the current situation we have chosen to take the top off the equity risk,” said the CEO, who replaced LD Pensions’ longstanding leader Dorrit Vanglo on 1 August.

LD Pensions, which manages the Holiday Allowance Fund (Lønmodtagernes Feriemidler) and the Cost-of-Living Allowance Fund (Lønmodtagernes Dyrtidsmidler), said both shares and bonds had contributed to the negative half-year investment result.

But it added that positive contributions had been achieved from inflation-related products as well as from the revaluation of the holiday funds that employers had chosen to keep within their businesses.

In its interim report, LD Pensions said it expected a return of around zero for the second half of the year, leaving it with a negative full-year return.

However, Mayland Nielsen said that looking further ahead, a normalisation of the interest-rate markets after the past 10 years of very loose monetary policy with negative interest rates could be an advantage.

“This will provide fertile ground for higher current returns on bond investments going forward,” he said.

Finnish pensions insurer concludes labour negotiations around restructuring

Elo, the third-largest of the four pension insurance companies operating in Finland’s earnings-related pension system, has said 44 roles will go in its restructuring process.

The firm said the labour-relations change negotiation process, which it announced in mid-August, had now concluded. When the process began, Elo said that a maximum of 50 jobs would be shed.

Elo’s current workforce numbers 522 employees.

A spokeswoman for Elo declined to give more detailed information on the number of staff who would lose their jobs.

Carl Pettersson, Elo’s CEO, said: “The layoffs are a difficult matter for us. We will, to the best of our ability, help those dismissed to get a new job and otherwise support them.”

In addition to the 44 roles that would cease, Elo said a significant proportion of job descriptions at the organisation would change.

Some people facing redundancy might be offered new roles within the company, Elo said.

Petterson said that the negotiations had been conducted in an “exceptionally open and constructive” spirit.

Until recently, Elo was under intense scrutiny from the Finnish FSA, following concerns about how it was being managed after its solvency level dipped below the floor for a single day at the start of the pandemic.

“After this process, we look to the future with confidence,” said Pettersen, adding that through the measures the company was taking, it was ensuring it could respond to customer needs and changes in the outside world.

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Rachel is Nordic correspondent for IPE and has long been a freelance writer. Over the years, she has written for The Telegraph, The Independent, The Observer, AMWatch and elsewhere. In 2001, her personal finance book Kickstart Your Money was published by John Wiley & Sons.

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