The Swedish government has ordered an external analysis of the way the big-four national pensions buffer funds, AP1-4, invest in unlisted assets, after dismay at how the funds came to lose billions by jointly investing in the battery firm Northvolt.

The Ministry of Finance announced yesterday that it has commissioned consultancy Arkwright – which has a regular contract to produce data for the government’s annual evaluation of the AP funds – to conduct an in-depth analysis of the funds’ forms of investment in illiquid assets.

The ministry said: “It is important to learn from the experiences with the funds’ investments in Northvolt, which show the need for transparency around the funds’ governance.”

One aspect that had been highlighted after the investment failed, the ministry said, was the structure the funds used to invest in Northvolt – the limited partnership 4 to 1 Investments, which had no employees and had made no other investments.

Niklas Wykman, minister for financial markets, said: “The assignment is about getting to the bottom of how the funds make this type of investment and drawing lessons.”

The review has been given a deadline of March 2026.

The ministry said Arkwright had already noted challenges in the way AP1-4 organised their unlisted, or illiquid investments work.

While the four funds had just over 25% of total assets invested in illiquid assets, only around 10% of staff were estimated to work with such investments, the ministry said, adding that these conditions would now be scrutinised.

Earlier this month, the chief executive officers of the four AP buffer funds, which collectively manage some SEK2trn (€184bn) of buffer capital in the state pension system, answered questions on the Northvolt investment, which resulted in a SEK5.8bn loss as the firm went bankrupt.

But committee chair Edward Riedl said afterwards that questions remained about the investment structure, and this needed to be followed up.

The funds themselves have said the investment was made in line with the AP Funds Act and its investment rules, which state that unlisted shares may be owned through a venture capital company.

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Rachel is IPE's Nordic correspondent. She has long been a freelance writer, and over the years, has written for The Telegraph, The Independent, The Observer, AMWatch and elsewhere. In 2001, Rachel's personal finance book Kickstart Your Money was published by John Wiley & Sons.View full Profile

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