The regulators are making waves. Any day now the Norwegian ministry of finance is expected to unveil new investment regulations for pensions and insurance companies (see page 13). The move is expected to cut restrictions on equity and bond allocations and open up larger interest in alternatives.

Daniel Barr, chief economist at the PPM, has told nrpn that he expects the Swedish savings platform to introduce an annual fee for asset managers wishing to list funds.

Valtion Eläkerahasto (VER), the €12bn pension fund for Finnish state employees, is to double its exposure to emerging market equities from 5 per cent to 10 per cent of its equity portfolio, at the expense of European equities.

Pension and insurance funds expect US and Japanese equities to turn in negative returns over the next six months, according to nrpn’s quarterly investor survey, which polled 16 funds with more than €188bn under management.

Fifteen per cent of the savers in Sweden’s new white collar workers’ scheme (ITP) who made an active choice did so because they felt any option was better than Alecta’s default fund.

A further 55 per cent believe making an active choice would secure them higher returns, according to a survey by Collectum, the administrative body of the ITP scheme.

AP 7’s recent SKr3bn (€320m) splash into environmentally friendly companies and technology is very likely to expand further, according to the fund’s executive vice president Richard Gröttheim.

Pioneer Investments, which recently poached Aon Consulting’s Swedish head Mats Langensjö to become its head of institutional business in the Nordic region, is considering the possibilility of entering into a tie-up with a local bank.

The €4.5bn Oslo Pensjonsforsikring (OPF) is planning to increase its allocation to alternatives and is interested in an exposure to commodities. The fund is taking advantage of new investment rules which are expected to cut the limits on equities and bonds and open up a larger allocation to alternatives.

Denmark’s €58.8bn Labour Market Supplementary Pension Scheme (ATP) will add tenders for infrastructure and real estate mandates in 2008, its chief investment officer for beta Henrik Jepsen told nrpn.

Over the past year ATP has cut its exposure to short term bonds and moved more of its assets into commodities, index-linked bonds, real estate and infrastructure.

The Norwegian Government Pension Fund has begun interviewing for a replacement for its executive director, Knut Kjaer, and confirmed that his replacement could be non-Norwegian.

Siv Meisingseth, director of communications at the fund, said: “We are looking and we have started the process with the help of a Swedish head hunter.”

Despite being the oldest pension fund in Finland, the Pharmacy scheme uses a bold investment strategy, taking risks for bigger returns and aiming to maintain strong buffers, writes Caroline Liinanki

Sweden’s hedge fund industry punches far above its weight. But alpha/beta separation and an appetite for long-term inflation hedging may see institutional investors favouring real or long-duration assets, especially private equity and property. Martin Steward reports

It is survival of the fittest as asset managers saturate the market with new 130/30 vehicles, but is demand from funds really that big or are businesses simply jumping on a bandwagon to make some quick cash? Kristen Paech reports

So a flood of new 130/30 products is hitting the market, but there is no way of assessing past performance. The vast range available and the speed at which products are being launched also makes it increasingly difficult to differentiate between managers. Kristen Paech finds out which fund to invest in

As both the Swedish and Finnish Lutheran churches have discovered, managing an ethical investment policy is a demanding task. But the need to diversify their portfolios and increase returns, is leading both funds to consider new asset classes. Reeta Cevik reviews the situation facing these two socially responsible investors

Iceland’s general worker’s fund (Framsyn Lifeyrissjodur), ranked third by assets under management, has joined forces with the country’s fourth-ranked seamen’s fund (Sjomanna Lifeyrissjodur) to form the Gildi pension fund.

From 1 June, the newly formed fund, with a total on current estimates of E1.92bn of assets under management, will occupy the former Framsyn fund’s third-place ranking.