May 2019

01May

Danish pension fund ATP posts record investment return

Denmark’s largest pension fund, ATP, reported the best quarterly return ever on its investment portfolio on Tuesday, but its chief executive cautioned that the end to a decade-long market upturn was near. ATP, Europe’s fourth-largest pension fund with around $120 billion of assets under management, achieved a record investment return of 20 billion Danish crowns ($3 billion) before costs and taxes in the first quarter, equivalent to a rate of return of 21.7 percent. The previous five years the fund has...

May 1, 2019
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February 2019

14Feb

Denmark’s Biggest Pension Fund May See 40% Surge in Inflows

Denmark’s biggest pension fund, with about $120 billion in assets under management, may end up handling even more money as a result of plans to make retirement savings obligatory for the unemployed and others receiving government support. Under the proposal in parliament, funds currently allocated for social, health and labor programs will be rerouted to ATP, the state-backed pension fund to which all working Danes must contribute. If passed, the proposal would raise annual net payments into ATP by...

February 14, 2019
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October 2018

22Oct

Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index 2018 released. Danish pension system among world’s best

Denmark rated second on Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index 2018 When it comes to enjoying the golden years of retirement, few citizens of the world have it better than the Danes. According to the new Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index 2018 (here in English), Denmark is second in the world when it comes to pension systems and received an A Grade for a score of 80.2 (out of 100). The only other country to obtain an A Grade was the Netherlands, which...

October 22, 2018
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April 2018

23Apr

Active vs. Passive Decisions and Crowdout in Retirement Savings Accounts: Evidence from Denmark

By Raj Chetty, John N. Friedman, Soren Leth-Petersen, Torben Nielsen, Tore Olsen Using 41 million observations on savings for the population of Denmark, we show that the impacts of retirement savings policies on wealth accumulation depend on whether they change savings rates by active or passive choice. Subsidies for retirement accounts, which rely upon individuals to take an action to raise savings, primarily induce individuals to shift assets from taxable accounts to retirement accounts. We estimate that each $1 of...

April 23, 2018
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November 2017

09Nov

Denmark. World’s Top-Ranked Pension Funds Are Hoarding Riskier Assets

Denmark’s $530 billion pension industry is accumulating risk at an ever faster pace in an effort to maintain the world’s best-funded life insurance market. The trend is upending initial public offerings and taking large chunks of listed companies out of circulation. It’s also adding vulnerabilities to Denmark’s economic backbone that the financial regulator says are underestimated. The Voices Allan Polack, the chief executive officer of PFA, which manages about $100 billion in assets, says the Danish regulator is “right to be...

November 9, 2017
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02Nov

Ørsted to sell 50% of Walney Extension to Danish pension funds

Danish utility Ørsted A/S (CPH:ORSTED), formerly Dong Energy A/S, announced today it has inked a deal to sell a 50% stake in the 659-MW Walney Extension offshore wind project to pension funds PKA and PFA. Each of the two Danish pension funds will acquire a 25% stake in the project and, together, they are committing to fund 50% of the payments under the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the entire wind park, including the transmission assets. The total...

November 2, 2017
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October 2017

18Oct

Denmark. Immigrants risk pension poverty

A new report from the Danish centre of applied social science, VIVE, warns that a lot of immigrants are going to be substantially worse off when they reach the pension age compared to their Danish counterparts, reports Avisen.dk The study looked at immigrants from Turkey, Iran Pakstan and Vietnam who came to Denmark in the 1960s, 70s and 80s and are now over 60 years old. The researchers used the OECD’s definition of poverty that defines it as an income of...

October 18, 2017
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September 2017

01Sep

Danish Investing Giant ATP Exits Six-Year Bet to Target More Risk

ATP, which is Denmark’s biggest pension fund and one of Europe’s top institutional investors, is for the first time in six years looking into putting more of its money into riskier investments. The board of ATP, which manages 748 billion kroner ($120 billion) in taxpayers’ retirement benefits, will in coming months look into adjusting the fund’s strategy as forecasts show the current setup will result in returns falling by more than half, Chief Executive Officer Christian Hyldahl said in an interview...

September 1, 2017
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August 2017

24Aug

Politics Matters Less and Less, Danish Pension Fund Giant Says

Denmark’s largest private pension fund isn’t that interested in politics anymore. Allan Polack, chief executive officer of PFA, argues that lawmakers and political leaders are out of touch and that globalization has made their decisions less relevant to the business community. "Politics and economics have decoupled a lot in recent years," Polack said in a telephone interview in Copenhagen. "Politicians populate an insulated world of their own, while companies live in another sphere." In an era where a resurgence of populism and...

August 24, 2017
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