Keva, the €20bn Finnish local government pensions institution, has moved an estimated €1bn of its emerging market equities from passive to active management.

Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages the NKr2.2trn (€250bn) Norwegian Government Pension Fund – Global, will soon announce five key new appointments. It is seeking a new chief investment officer, chief treasurer, chief risk officer, chief administrative officer and chief operating officer.

Several larger Danish pension funds are looking into new asset classes such as insurance-linked securities and hedge funds in the search for real diversification.

Swedish pension company Länsförsäkringar is planning its first move into senior bank debt.

After much delay, the Finnish ministry of social affairs and health has appointed two working groups to assess the economic effects of the crisis.

The Swedish government’s new corporate governance policy for the AP funds is threatening the independence of the national buffer funds as it risks turning them into political tools. But some are questioning if the directive breaches the AP funds’ legislation.

Threadneedle has closed its Stockholm office as part of a move to consolidate its Nordic operations. The change sees the departure of Nordic head of distribution Thomas Berglund, who has been in the role since 2005.

Danish Industriens Pension has started a push into equities and has increased its allocation from 18 to 25 per cent. The DKr39.8bn (e5.4bn) Danish pension fund for industrial workers has not only enhanced the size of its existing mandates and bought futures, but also awarded a new European equity mandate to Danske Capital.

Söfnunarsjódur lífeyrisréttinda, the Icelandic General Pension Fund, is hoping that Icelandic pension funds will soon be allowed to increase their allocation to foreign assets.

Proposed EU regulations for private equity and hedge funds have been met with caution by Fondbolagens Förening, the Swedish investment fund association.

The UN Principles for Responsible Investment should start throwing out signatories that do not comply with its guidelines.

A working committee has been formed in Finland to evaluate temporary measures aimed at easing solvency requirements for private pension insurance companies.

The Norwegian Government Pension Fund – Global, Fokus Bank, Storebrand and Skandiabanken have all invested in a company that is building Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Länsförsäkringar, the Swedish pension company, has decided to reinvest in hedge funds – an asset class that the pensions company shunned four years ago.

The company decided to stop investing in hedge funds in 2005 because of high fees and to concentrate on adding to its infrastructure and private equity holdings. But it has just made a turnaround and put money into its first hedge fund for four years, a credit opportunity fund run by Swedish Nektar Asset Management.

Gustav Kärner, chief financial officer of Länsförsäkringar, would not disclose the size of the investment, but said that it is “a significant amount”.

The DKr355.6bn (€47.8bn) Danish ATP pension scheme has made two significant green investments in an effort to diversify its portfolio and become robust enough to withstand differing states of the economy.

The DKr180m acquisition of the Upper Hudson Woodland in New York State symbolises ATP’s first move into what is set to be a DKr3bn investment into forestry. The purchase was made via a new ATP Group subsidiary: ATP Timberland Invest.

Skandia Liv Asset Management is continuing its bold move into US senior bank debt. The Swedish SKr253bn (e21.9bn) life company is hoping to take advantage of the aftermath of the credit crunch by investing in US bank loans and is also looking to expand the investments into Europe.

Norwegian pension company Vital Forsikring has put its plans to increase its alternative assets on hold. The firm, which managed to pull in positive returns in 2008, dramatically reduced its equities from 25 per cent to 3.8 per cent over the past year. More than 2 per cent of that is allocated to alternatives.

Nordic pension funds are continuing to plough money into emerging market equities despite the turbulence still affecting those economies.

Nordic hedge funds have returned to profitability for the first time since the spring of 2008.

Iceland’s pension funds are establishing a private equity fund that will invest in domestic companies hurt by the financial crisis.

DIP, the DKr25bn (€3.35bn) Danish Pension Fund for Engineers, is considering selling all of its direct property assets and putting the money into real estate funds.

A planned merger between two Icelandic pension funds has been put on hold as a result of the financial crisis.

In an effort to promote intra-industry dialogue, Ethix SRI Advisors, Aviva and the Danish Insurance Association, have initiated the launch of the Danish social investment forum (Dansif).

Norwegian pensions and insurance company Kommunal Landspensjonskasse (KLP) has slashed its equities from 26 per cent to 6 per cent, in a defensive move to protect capital.

Ilmarinen’s new deputy chief executive officer and head of investments Timo Ritakallio is making his first changes to the firm’s investment strategy.

The €23.4bn Finnish pension company will increase its allocation to private equity, property funds and internal hedge fund strategies. It is also currently re-evaluating its external mandates.

“We have started putting more focus on private equity and will continue to increase our allocation to about 4 per cent of assets. We also have plans to increase our investments in real estate funds abroad,” said Mr Ritakallio, who has appointed Mikko Räsänen as head of private equity and unlisted investments, a newly created position.

Norway’s largest pension fund will cut all investments in tobacco-related companies next year, in adherence to its new ethical guidelines.

Lífeyrissjódur verkfrædinga, the Icelandic Engineers’ Pension Fund, has made its first foray into property.

In its first mandate win in the Nordic region, F&C Investments has been appointed to provide active engagement services for the Pædagogernes Pensionskasse (PBU), the DKr29.8bn (€4bn) Danish pension fund for early childhood teachers.

Nordic pension funds will continue to plough money into private equity, which remains one of the most attractive asset classes for the region’s funds.

AP1, the SKr218.79bn (€23.27bn) Swedish buffer fund, is to increase its reliance on equities at the expense of its bond holdings.

Varma has criticised exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for not providing anything different from existing investment options. The firm, Finland’s largest pension insurer, is considering reducing its exposure to the vehicle.

Sampension, the €12.5bn Danish pension management company, is set to invest in energy-linked equities, and has put its planned moves into commodities on hold.

PKA, the €16bn Danish pension fund company, is looking to add to its infrastructure portfolio and is planning to include infrastructure funds specifically focused on emerging markets.

AP 4, the Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund, has once again turned in an unsatisfactory investment performance, with total returns of 1.8 per cent.

More than half of pension funds in Norway, Sweden and Denmark intend to increase their holdings in non-listed real estate over the next five years.

Finnish pension and insurance funds are reversing a 10-year non-domestic investment trend by increasing their allocations to the Finnish market. The surprise findings are part of a Tela report.

The €3.6bn Iceland State Employees’ Pension Fund (Lifeyrissjodur Stafsmanna Rikisins, or LSR) has set itself an ambitious €350m target for alternative asset class exposure.

Iceland’s National Association of Pension Funds would like to see the national regulator move to the prudent man principle for regulating pension funds’ investments.

Norway’s €14bn domestic investment fund is seeking bids for an auditing services provider. The Government Pension Fund – Norway, formerly the National Insurance Scheme, previously retained the state auditing office’s services.

AP 3, the €24.3bn Swedish national pension buffer fund, has made its first commitments to indirect international property. The fund has until now only invested in property through the AP-funds’ co-owned property firm AP Fastigheter.

“In time, our aim is to have the property portfolio equally split between investments in Sweden and abroad. Geographically, we will start in Europe and Asia, and North America will follow,” said Bengt Hellström, head of alternative investments.

Apteekkien Eläkekassa, the €400m Finnish Pharmacy Pension Fund, is to appoint a manager to run almost half of its total assets. The tender is for 40 per cent of the fund’s portfolio, a mandate worth €175m that is equally divided between bonds and equities. SEB Gyllenberg has been the appointed manager for the last three years.

The new SAF-LO agreement, the pension plan for Swedish blue collar workers, has announced which companies will take part in the first part of the manager selection process.

AMF Pension has come out on top while SEB Trygg Liv Nya was ranked 10th in Kaupthing Pension Consulting’s assessment of Swedish life and pension companies.

Ilmarinen, the €23bn Finnish mutual pension insurance company, plans to raise its equity exposure by 2 percentage points each year until 2012, according to Jussi Laitinen, chief investment officer.

More than 60 per cent of Nordic pension funds plan to raise their exposure to private equity in the next six months and 50 per cent expect to allocate more to infrastructure.

Swedish pension fund AP 7 will extend its alpha/beta separation programme from Swedish equities to European equities in the second half of 2007.

The active management approach of AP 1 to 4 has been criticised for being too expensive and not turning in good enough results.

Pension funds should be wary of hedge fund managers when it comes to corporate governance, according to experts.

Tom Rathke, the new managing director at Vital, has taken over responsibility for DnB NOR Asset Management.

The Norwegian ministry of finance is scouring the market for a company to evaluate tax issues for the Government Pension Fund – Global’s impending move into property.

The €8.3bn Danish pension fund PensionDanmark is to increase its exposure to alternatives to 4 per cent of its total assets this year and to 10 per cent by 2012. The fund already invested in two infrastructure funds last year via Goldman Sachs and Energy Capital Partners.

AP 1, the first Swedish national pension fund, is on the hunt for one or more Japanese equity managers. The buffer fund is reconsidering its active approach and is looking for both passive and active managers for the first time. The tender is worth around €914m.

PKA, the €15.5bn administration company for occupational pension funds in Denmark, is increasing its exposure to private equity from 2 per cent to 5 per cent over the next two years.

Danica Pension, the Danish pension insurance company with assets of €32bn, is to site an offshore operation in Ireland before the end of the year.

The €8.3bn Finnish State Pension Fund is to receive a cash injection of almost €1bn from the Finnish government before the end of the year, which it is to use to increase its current 4 per cent exposure to alternatives to 10 per cent over the next two years.

The investment guidelines for Sweden’s national pension funds, the AP funds with assets in excess of SKr807bn (€87.3bn), will be scrutinised by the country’s ministry of finance because of a recent row over activist private equity investments.

Bank Pension, the Dkr11.4bn (€1.52bn) fund that covers Danish employees in the finance sector, is in the process of hiring a Los Angeles based manager to run a European equity mandate worth $10m (€7.8m).

Sweden’s Premium Pension System (PPM) fund range should be cut from 708 funds to just three simple risk-adjusted choices, according to plans proposed by the president of the AP7 state pension fund.

Forca, the administration service recently launched by PKA; Lærernes Pension (LP); and the Early Childhood Teachers (PBU) fund is making plans to offer its services to other Danish pension funds.

VR Pension Fund, the €920m scheme for workers in the Finnish state railways, has reduced its number of external asset managers in a bid to increase efficiency and reduce management overlap.

Finland’s largest mutual pension insurance company logged an impressive year-on-year return growth with a shift towards equities. And with recommendations being accepted to raise the equity component of the fund by 10 per cent, this could well be repeated again. Reeta Cevik reports

Unlike most Danish funds, which operate under minimum guaranteed return conditions, PensionDanmark is free to follow a long-term investment strategy with considerable exposure to equities. Reeta Cevik reports on the underpinnings of the fund’s success