Alfred Berg Asset Management is planning to launch its first timberland fund following client demand. The company believes timber to be one investment theme that is starting to pick up, alongside infrastructure and climate change.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s head of the Nordic region, Amna Karim, has left the company for undisclosed reasons.

Sampension, the DKr99.6bn (e13.4bn) pensions company, is in the process of separating its alpha and beta exposure.

The NKr2.38trn (e282bn) Norwegian Government Pension Fund – Global is tightening its investment rules on hedge funds.

Why did you part company with PFA?

PFA recently made some organisational changes and introduced the position of chief financial officer. I respect the decision to change the structure. However, I couldn’t see myself working effectively within this setup. Thus, the outcome was to part company. It is as simple as that.

Norges Bank Investment Management, manager of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund – Global, with assets in excess of NKr2.39bn (e283m), is taking a more active corporate government stance globally.

Johan Held has left his position as chief investment officer of Swedish AP2 and has been appointed as CIO of AFA Insurance. Mr Held will be a member of AFA Insurance’s corporate management team and replace the current CIO, Lars Öhrstedt, who will retire in the first half of 2010. Mr Held was previously CFO of KP Pension & Försäkring and has held several positions within SEB Investment Management and Nordea Asset Management. AFA Insurance administers approximately SEK 200 billion and is one of the largest asset management companies in Sweden.

With Iceland’s pensions industry still far from its pre-crisis standing, Spencer Anderson reports on the establishment of the Icelandic Investment Fund, set up to rescue the country’s failing firms

The UK government’s commitment to an opt-out clause from auto-enrolment has forced Danish ATP to rethink its intention to win the personal accounts admin contract. James Redgrave investigates

A tide of regulatory changes are set to hit the Finnish pensions industry as the ministry of social affairs and health prepares to introduce rules that will boost competitiveness between pension funds and insurance companies. Reeta Paakkinen investigates

Higher exposure to equities has paid off as Swedish pensions institutions succeed in rebuilding pre-crisis capital buffers, writes Reeta Paakkinen

Nrpn celebrated excellence in the Swedish pensions industry when it launched the first Swedish nrpn awards. The ceremony took place in Stockholm on October 12 and brought together representatives from pension funds as well as other parts of the pensions and investment industry. The event followed the toughest year of investment in living memory, which was apparent from the difficulties jury members faced in deciding the winners. By the end of the night, awards were handed out to winners in three of the four categories.

Following a tumultuous 12 months, Nordic pension funds are returning to their pre-crisis strategies as appetites for alternatives increase, writes Caroline Liinanki

AP1’s CEO Johan Magnusson tells Caroline Liinanki why the fund is reducing its active management in favour of strategic asset allocation and discusses the difficult role of the AP funds

The Finnish farmers’ pension fund has made a strong comeback in the first half of the year by resisting radical change, writes Reeta Paakkinen

After restructuring its investment department, Danish PenSam is now overhauling its entire strategy, write Hjalmar Tjan and John Foster

Christian Elsmark, managing director, Europe, at SWIP, tells Caroline Liinanki why pension funds must take a more proactive approach to asset allocation and about the importance of asking questions

With Nordic investors setting their sights on emerging markets as another forestry investment destination, Spencer Anderson tells of the complexities involved

Nordic pension funds turn to riskier fixed income asset classes to plug funding gaps left by the financial crisis. Gill Wadsworth investigates

Scandinavian investors risk falling behind their European peers, unless they start integrating ESG-related return criteria, writes Gunilla Hjalmarsson

Aberdeen’s Hugh Young explores technological development through the ages and how it affects the investment prospects in emerging economies

BlackRock’s Michael Marks and Peter Leane investigate what is really behind the much discussed concept of fiduciary management

While there are certainly risks involved in unhedged foreign currency investment, active currency management can reap solid returns and offer diversification benefits to a fund’s portfolio, writes Claudia Reim

Outsourcing pensions administration services from the United Kingdom has seemingly taken a back seat to offshoring, writes David Rowley