Nordic Region comment
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Opinion PiecesThe looming trust deficit
Once again, European pension systems – notably those of the Netherlands and Denmark – have scored most highly in this year’s Mercer CFA Pension Index. These successes are no accident, and among the key ingredients is years of pragmatic and consensual policy making.
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Opinion PiecesNotes from the Nordics: NBIM still learning on equal pay after winning employment case
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has hailed the benefits of litigation abroad to drive its corporate governance agenda. Closer to home, victory in an Oslo employment case may have rung decidedly hollow for Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM).
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Opinion PiecesStrategy reset during a pandemic
Just over six months into the job, Nicolai Tangen, who took over as CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) last September from Yngve Slyngstad, has already revised the asset manager’s strategy plan for this year and next.
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Opinion PiecesNBIM’s Shanghai exit: more than ‘operational’ adjustment’
When Norway’s sovereign wealth fund announced in September it was shutting down its only office in China, the move was bound to be seen as symbolic of the deteriorating relationship between China and the US and its allies. It also came at a low-point for investment in China, with foreigners having sold off a record CNY90bn (€11.5bn) of Chinese stocks in August, amid fears over China’s tensions with the West, its property crisis and weak post-COVID economic recovery.
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Opinion PiecesDo not blame institutions for taking risks
Alecta, the SEK1.19trn (€105bn) institution that manages the Swedish ITP private-sector pension scheme, is being probed by Swedish regulators for the €1.9bn capital loss it experienced earlier this year, as the three US regional banks it invested in – Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank – collapsed. The institution reacted by firing its influential CEO Magnus Billing.
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Opinion PiecesAlecta’s crisis management
It can certainly hurt a pension provider when investments go badly, but an organisation’s next steps in response to disastrous losses are vital.
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Opinion PiecesBanking crisis delivers a lesson on equity strategy
We may never know the precise reasons why the in-house equity team of Alecta, the €105bn Swedish pension scheme, chose to invest in excess of €1bn in risky US banks including Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), much of which has now been written off.
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Opinion PiecesDenmark: Seeking answers on unlisted valuations
The perennial problem of how unlisted assets should be valued has reared its head in Denmark. Data collated by one financial adviser on pension funds’ 2022 private equity investments has led to worries about an apparent black-box approach to valuation processes.
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Opinion PiecesNorway needs another pensions overhaul
It’s official – Norway’s state pension system needs another overhaul. The Pension Commission published its hefty report in June arguing for changes to make it socially sustainable – raising age limits, pegging minimum benefits to wage growth and shielding disability pensions from the effects of life expectancy adjustment.
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Opinion PiecesNotes from the Nordics: Finland on the frontier
Fear and uncertainty are rattling markets, but financial concerns are dwarfed by the human suffering caused by the war in Ukraine. In Finland, people have particular reason to worry due to the country’s long land border with Russia.
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Opinion Pieces
Notes from the Nordics: Danish funds keen to invest in green project
Danish pension funds have been at the forefront of discussions on how to achieve the nation’s ambitious goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70% from 1990 levels by 2030.
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Opinion PiecesGetting ahead of the skill curve
Twenty years ago, in December 2001, Denmark’s giant labour market pension fund ATP implemented an interest-rate swap. That doesn’t seem too shocking now as liability-driven investment (LDI) is a mature and well-understood concept that is embedded in pension risk-management and regulatory practice.
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Opinion PiecesNorway SWF’s net-zero plans under scrutiny
Last month the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund – Government Pension Fund Global – was reprimanded by several industry experts and economists for not having yet joined the United Nations-convened Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance.
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Opinion Pieces
Notes from the Nordics: GPFG brought into politics
The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) is a phenomenon – the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund owned by a population of just 5.3m, accounting for a sixth of all SWF assets and the owner of 1.5% of all listed equities.
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: The economic objectives of the ‘Oil Fund’
The attention surrounding the appointment of Nicolai Tangen to head the Norwegian ‘Oil Fund’ could be reflections of deeper concerns and how the objectives of asset managers and asset owners differ.
