Almost half (47.6 per cent) of respondents to the quarterly survey of pension funds (see page 14) said they would be raising exposure to equities, with the same proportion indicating they would reduce exposure to fixed income. Investors also expressed interest in private equity, with 42.9 per cent of funds looking to put more money into the asset class.

Peter Nielsen, managing director of exchange traded funds specialist iShares in the Nordics, said: “Last year was the year of fixed income when a lot of institutional investors moved into credit. Towards the end of the year, we saw a pick up in more risk-seeking asset classes and some investors started looking towards alternatives again.”

Particularly of interest within both the equity and fixed income sectors is the prospect of high returns from emerging markets. More than a third of survey respondents said emerging markets would be the most interesting equity sector over the next six months. Mr Nielsen added that as well as the economies traditionally seen as ‘emerging’, there was also increasing interest in Latin America and South America.

Mr Nielsen said he had also observed a trend among Nordic investors to shy away from the more complicated investment vehicles. He said: “If you look back at 2008, Nordic investors were using sophisticated investment products and structured products, but now I think institutional investors are looking for more simplicity in their products, and this is where ETFs are fitting in quite nicely.”