The European pension fund community cannot seem to get enough of alternatives.

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.

Mercer Human Resource consulting has set up a pan-European one-stop shop for companies anxious to avoid locking up money in over-financed pension funds.

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.

Switzerland is the top ranked country when it comes to environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors while China, Pakistan and Qatar make up the tail end, according to Ethical Investment Research Services (EIRIS).

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 board of AP 1 is on the hunt for a new managing director to start in 2008. William af Sandeberg, the buffer fund’s current managing director, is to retire by the end of the year. Mr Sandeberg has held the position since the beginning of 2002 and previously worked at SEB Investment Management.

Danish life and pension funds are looking to move away from their relatively large bond holdings in favour of alternatives, according to consultancy Kirstein Finans.

New regulations have allowed Finnish pension funds a 10 per cent increase in equity allocations, as well as more access to alternatives and non-eurozone investments. Caroline Liinanki reports.

A former director at AP 1 and professor of economics at Stockholm University wants the five Swedish buffer funds – together worth €90.6bn – to be merged into one to reduce costs by SKr2bn (€200m) a year.

AP 6, the €1.85bn Swedish national buffer fund, which is currently only allowed to invest domestically, is preparing to expand its investments into the Nordic market.

Asset manager and fund are now more clearly defined in Norway’s domestic government pension scheme, which completes a shake-up that has also seen a shift in the fund’s investments, writes Caroline Liinanki.

In a shift from our last quarterly survey, Nordic investors are looking to add alternative investments to their portfolios, with private equity attracting the most interest. However, interest in equities still remains strong, write Caroline Liinanki and Chris Newlands.

Responsibility and sensibility have always been the watch words of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund – Global. But with a dramatic increase in the fund’s equity allocation planned and a Shanghai office in the pipeline, it may be time to get more adventurous. Caroline Liinanki reports.

Danish fund Industriens Pension is enjoying the fruits of its labour, as good returns have enabled the fund to allocate more money into risky asset classes like alternatives. Caroline Liinanki finds out how it approached the asset class.

A low-yielding environment, combined with changing demographic patterns for the largely female workforce it insures, has forced Denmark’s PKA to work harder to match its liabilities. Reeta Cevik reports on how the firm is reassessing its investment portfolio to deliver positive returns.

nrpn spoke to four Danish pension funds about a difficult year for domestic returns and where they are finding yield.

It is now a widely accepted fact that a transition manager reduces costs, controls risk and provides strong project management when asset owners, such as pension funds or insurance companies, make changes to their investment portfolios.

nrpn research shows that many investors plan to increase their exposure to infrastructure in the next six months, particularly those in Denmark and Finland. But what role will privatisation play? Kristen Paech reports.

M&A activity is set to continue at the record levels of last year, which could see the creation of yet more banking behemoths. While many welcome a less crowded market, most pension funds are wary of any large mergers. Chris Newlands reports.

As the world starts to get greener, it is inevitable that new asset classes will begin to emerge. Forestry has already got the backing of some big endowments in the US, but bio-fuels have received a setback due to the knock-on costs it produces. And can anybody really value water as a tradeable commodity? Thomas Escritt reports.

Nick Phillips outlines the reasons for the continuation of success in European equities.

Private equity has received considerable media attention. Yet, determining suitability and appropriate allocations remains a challenge for many investors. Anthony Biddulph, director institutional sales at BlackRock, investigates.

Ulf Grensemann and Thomas Vöcking at Deutsche Asset Management answer the four questions that any investor should ask before embarking on a 120/20 strategy and its advantages over other long-short splits.

It seems as though there are rich pickings to be had by undertaking class action law suits against companies, with $18bn recovered last year. However, critics say that it creates costs, affects insurance premiums and does not fix problems over the long term. Kristen Paech reports on how Europe is following in the footsteps of the US.