April 2021
29Apr

Biggest Pension Fund in Denmark Takes a Hit on Its Bond Exposure

Denmark’s biggest pension fund, ATP, lost almost $200 million on its investment portfolio after its exposure to bond markets backfired. “ATP’s current investment strategy is relatively heavily exposed to interest rates, and this makes it sensitive to the rising interest rates that we saw in the first quarter,” Chief Executive Officer Bo Foged said in a statement. The fund, which oversees about $150 billion in assets, is trying to get parliamentary approval to shift into riskier corners of the market after the government...

April 29, 2021
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23Apr

A $120 Billion Danish Pension Manager Loses Faith in Bonds

In one of the world’s best-run pension markets, the biggest commercial manager says it’s time to dump bonds. “The switch out of fixed income into broader equities, whether it’s listed or unlisted, is what we recommend and what we are positioned for,” Kasper Lorenzen, chief investment officer at Copenhagen-based PFA, said in an interview. Back when most asset managers were being taught the trade, “we learned that government bonds are the safe assets, the risk-free asset,” he said. “Well, let’s see...

April 23, 2021
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February 2021
12Feb

Danish pension giant ATP makes first investment in social bonds

Denmark’s ATP, one of the first pension funds globally to buy green bonds, has made its first investments in so-called social bonds as part of its sustainable portfolio, it said on Thursday. Social bonds, which are debt issued for socially beneficial projects such as eradicating child labour or strengthening workers’ rights, have caught the eye of investors during the COVID-19 pandemic, when ethical investments have surged. “In 2020, we decided to take it one step further and expand our universe to...

February 12, 2021
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October 2020

15Oct

PFA reports new fall in CO2 emissions, drops some oil and gas firms

Fund says equity portfolio emits 21% less CO2 per million USD invested than MSCI world index Denmark’s largest commercial pension fund, PFA, has announced a significant reduction in the carbon footprint of its equity portfolio in the first six months of this year – a period in which it now reveals it sold several oil and gas equities. The DKK599bn (€80.5bn) pension fund said the latest climate review of its equity portfolio shows that at the end of June, the...

October 15, 2020
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August 2020

19Aug

ESG head exits €92bn Danish pension fund giant

PFA Asset Management’s head of ESG, Andreas Stang, has left the firm to join insurance and pension company Topdanmark. As part of his new role, Stang will take charge of responsible investments and ESG integration. Topdanmark said his appointment is part of its increasing focus on responsibility and sustainability. He has been head of ESG at PFA Asset Management for over four years. The group oversees DKK 688bn, which equates to around €92bn. Prior to that he was chairman...

August 19, 2020
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June 2020

26Jun

2 Danish pension funds chip into latest European green bond

ATP, Hilleroed, Denmark, invested an undisclosed amount in the latest €1 billion ($1.1 billion) climate awareness bond issued by the European Investment Bank, a spokesman for the 889.5 billion Danish kroner ($134 billion) fund confirmed. ATP has invested 26 billion kroner in green bonds to date. The fund does not disclose details about individual issuers, according to the spokesman. The 15-year CAB 2035 is an eligible green investment under the European Union's upcoming green bond standards, taxonomy and sustainability...

June 26, 2020
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10Jun

Denmark’s MP Pension divests 24 oil company holdings

Denmark's flag hangs outside a restaurant in Copenhagen. Danish pension fund MP Pensions plans to divest from 24 oil companies, following similar divestment last year from 10 energy giants. MP Pension, Gentofte, Denmark, has excluded a further 24 oil companies from its portfolio, divesting almost 900 million Danish kroner ($133.9 million) in assets. The 128.4 billion kroner pension fund excluded the oil companies following a 644 million kroner divestment from the 10 biggest oil companies in its portfolio last...

June 10, 2020
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February 2020
14Feb

Denmark’s Largest Pension Fund to Launch Sustainable Vehicle

By Michael Katz PFA, Denmark’s largest pension fund with DKK560 billion ($82 billion) in assets, is launching a pension product that allows participants to invest their retirement savings in climate-focused investments that it says will be carbon neutral in five years at the latest. Beginning this summer, PFA Climate Plus will be available to the fund’s customers to allow them the opportunity to “significantly step up” how much their pensions contribute to cutting carbon dioxide emissions, the fund said. “As Denmark’s...

February 14, 2020
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December 2019

11Dec

Danish Pension Assets Swell to $680 Billion as Funds Add Risk

Denmark’s pension industry has grown to more than double the country’s gross domestic product after adding about $100 billion this year alone. “The first nine months of 2019 saw considerable growth in the companies’ balance sheets as a result of substantial returns on pension wealth,” the central bank said on Tuesday. That followed a substantial increase in holdings of asset classes outside the traditional bond and stock allocations. Pension funds have been shifting their allocation to alternative assets as...

December 11, 2019
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October 2019

24Oct

Denmark’s Biggest Pension Fund Just Unveiled a Record 40% Return

Denmark’s biggest pension fund, ATP, more than doubled its rate of return in the first nine months of this year as most of the asset classes it invested in grew in value. Read also European private pension industry hit by negative returns in 2018 The upshot was a return of 36.9 billion kroner ($5.5 billion), before costs and taxes, said ATP, which oversees about $130 billion of assets from its headquarters north of Copenhagen. Read also SA retirement...

October 24, 2019
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