The DKr70bn (e9.4bn) PenSam has become the latest pensions company outside Norway to use the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global’s guidelines on ethical investment.

Norwegian pensions company Storebrand Life Insurance is looking to increase its allocation to emerging market equities, but is wary of potential responsible investment issues.

Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global is far from making its first real estate investment because of staffing issues, according to sources close to the situation.

The SKr335bn (€34.5bn) Swedish AMF Pension is looking to make its first foray into foreign real estate, though its head of property Max Hederos emphasised that no investment was imminent.

VER’s returns on alternative investments, which include real estate and private equity funds, performed quite poorly in 2009 at -14 per cent. Are you going to keep adding to alternative investments to reach the 12 per cent target set by the ministry of finance?

Sweden

Schroders Investment Management is re-establishing its presence in Sweden on the institutional business side following a strong performance over the past two years.

Hans Fahlin has been appointed chief investment officer of AP2, the second Swedish national pension fund. Mr Fahlin has 25 years’ experience in the financial industry, the past 17 of which was spent in asset management. He has held several posts within Alfred Berg/ABN Amro, including chief executive officer at Alfred Berg Kapitalförvaltning. Mr Fahlin is a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee at the Institute for Financial Research and chairman of Inquire Europe. Both organisations are engaged in building bridges between financial research and business practice.

The administration company for eight Danish occupational pension funds has teamed up with the Industrialisation Fund for Developing Countries to launch a fund that invests in microfinance institutions.

Reeta Paakkinen investigates

The manager of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Norway is sticking to its guns on the subject of active management, even though it failed to meet benchmark. Peter Carvill investigates

The Finnish pensions industry is campaigning for the permanent adoption of temporary solvency rules. Gill Wadsworth investigates

The International Corporate Governance Network’s (ICGN) executive director Carl Rosén tells Caroline Liinanki what challenges lie ahead for institutional investors and why they need to become better organised

Norway’s longest running occupational pensions company has sailed through the crisis with solid growth, writes Peter Carvill

After a previously poor performance, pensions company KPA has made a marked improvement, writes Caroline Liinanki

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about emerging market debt – both from asset managers and pension funds. Would you agree that emerging market debt has become increasingly interesting for institutional investors?

With the consensus on climate change strengthening, pension funds must calculate certain risk implications into their long-term strategies, writes Caroline Liinanki

The Norwegian finance ministry’s restriction of the global fund’s active management will not be significantly damaging.

James Redgrave investigates

Global property markets are experiencing varying levels of performance. Asia is proving attractive to investors, while Europe also offers opportunities for those who know where to look, writes Richard Hemming

Nordic pension funds are under pressure to change their investment behaviour and improve performance.

Lucas Vermeulen investigates

With growth far exceeding previous conservative estimates, the BRIC countries are looking set to rival the G7 in 20 years. Kathryn Koch and Claudia Reim investigate

Anke Claassen speaks to the most powerful woman in Dutch finance about innovations within the country’s pensions sector