SWEDEN – Negotiations are underway between the Swedish National Agency for Government Employees, the Arbetsgivarverket and its representative trade union, SEKO, which could lead to the creation of a new pension fund for up to 240,000 employees in Sweden’s public sector.

SEKO and the Arbetsgivarverket have announced that they have entered into a new pensions agreement, whereby the fee structure and payout of assets as prescribed in the existing public pensions agreement will be overhauled.

But a spokesperson for SEKO, Sven-Olof Hellmann, says this is not an easy task and the changes may have far-reaching consequences. He says that the size and nature of the changes have thrown up a number of administrative and service issues, and the creation of an entirely new pensions system, including a search for asset managers, may be the solution.

There are no problems with the pension system as such, but there are institutional issues that we need to address,” he comments.“Creating a new public sector fund might ultimately be the way round the administration and service issues that have arisen as a result of the changes to the existing pension arrangement,” he adds.

The final decision is expected in the next few weeks.