Traditional pension savings products that have return guarantees saw returns increase among many Swedish providers during 2013.

One of the exceptions was Länsförsäkringar Liv’s Gamla Trad fund, which lost 3%, compared with a return of 6.1% in 2012.

In a statement, Länsförsäkringar cited a 76% allocation to long bonds out of a 92% allocation to fixed income.

The company’s newer products, with different guarantees and a broader mix of assets, returned 4.3% since start in June 2013.

Assets under management decreased to SEK115bn (€13bn) from SEK123bn at the end of 2012.

SEB Trygg Liv Gamla, the closed traditional product at SEB, the banking group, returned 11.3% for 2013.

The average return over five years has been 9.6%, earning praise from independent advisers judging it to be one of the best providers.

The results for 2013 were boosted by listed and unlisted equities, as well as hedge funds and a low allocation to fixed income.

At Swedbank Försäkring, the insurance arm of the Swedish banking group, traditional products returned 8.3% for the full year 2013, compared with 5.8% for the full year 2012. 

Assets under management also increased to SEK118.2bn from SEK103bn the year before.

Alecta Optimal Pension, the traditional pension product managed by Alecta, the pension insurance provider, returned 17.3% in 2013.

The fund has SEK31bn in assets.

Meanwhile, Nordea Life & Pensions, the life and pensions arm of the Nordic banking group, saw assets under management increase slightly to €58.7bn at year-end, compared with €57.2bn the year before.

The solvency level increased by 6 percentage points to 173%.