The consultancy, which has been ranking Swedish life and pension companies since 2004, said strong capital management, low costs and good finances contributed to AMF’s first place position.

SEB Trygg Liv Gamla was ranked second, followed by Skandia Liv, Lansforsakringar Liv, SHB Liv, KPA Pensionsforsakring, Folksam Liv, SPP Liv and Nordea Liv 1 respectively.

Dick Simonsson, CEO at Kaupthing Pension Consulting, said the analytical model used to rank companies was developed this year on the back of market changes in Sweden.

Kaupthing is adviser to the large Swedish purchaser of the ITP occupational pension scheme. While in the past companies were assessed on 12 criteria which were each given equal weighting, this year they were ranked based on four main criteria, he said.

The four areas included future development and operating expenses, portfolio performance, collective funding and key expense ratios from the annual report. All four of these were also subject to a risk analysis.

According to the findings, AMF Pension had the highest expected return but not the highest risk. High costs and high returns contributed to SPP Liv’s eighth place position, Kaupthing said. “They charge a lot for their services,” Mr Simonsson said.

Low returns in 2006 and the first quarter of 2007 followed by adverse reactions from unions and subsequent media attention were blamed for KPA Pensionsforsakring’s mid-table ranking.

Poor solvency was the reason for both Nordea Liv 1 and SEB Trygg Liv Nya’s position in the table; however, Mr Simonsson said this should improve when SEB Trygg Liv Nya merges with traditional life company SEB Fondinsurance on 1 October.

Kaupthing, which has historically ranked Swedish life and pension companies on a quarterly basis, has begun ranking them twice yearly. The firm will rank Swedish unit-linked companies in August.

KP

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