SWEDEN - Ingrid Bonde, director-general of the Swedish regulator Finansinpektionen, is stepping down from her current to take a job at one of the country's largest pension funds.

Having spent six years with the regulatory body, her position was due to end later this year, so she will soon move to AMF Pension as chief executive, following a period of gardening leave.

She will step into the role left by Christer Elmehagen, current chief executive of AMF Pension, after he announced in December he would be leaving the €27bn fund at the end of 2008 once his contract expired, having been there for 10 years. (See earlier IPE story: Elmehagen to leave AMF Pension)

A statement issued by AMF Pension confirms her move so Erik Saers, currently director of market conduct at FI is stepping up as acting director-general.

Commenting on her past and new roles, Bonde (pictured) said while it has been difficult to gauge her capabilities in the past, given there is no ‘profit and loss account' to measure, her skills will be beneficial to the pension fund.

"[AMF] is an extremely big and interesting company and it is a company with values that I wholeheartedly stand behind. I believe I can contribute with my broad experience of regulatory activities so surely to the private as to the public sector," said Bonde.

At the same time as Bonde has announced her move out of regulation and into pensions, Lord Turner, previously known in the UK for heading up the Pensions Commission - tasked with reviewing the UK pensions regime - has been appointed as the new chairman of the UK's Financial Services Authority when Callum McCarthy steps down.

And elsewhere in Sweden, Monica Caneman has become the new chairman of the AP4, the fourth Swedish pension buffer fund while Tommy Persson is the new chairman of the AP7.

Caneman succeeds Birgit Friggebo who has been chairman of the AP4's board since 2000 and Persson succeeds Bengt Rydén who has been with AP7 since 1999.

Sonat Burman-Olsson has also been appointed by the government to the board of directors at Swedish pension buffer fund AP3 while Katarina Bonde joins the AP6 board.

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