Stockholm (NordSIP) – The revamp of Alecta’s investment organisation continues in the aftermath of the dramatic events at the beginning of the year. On 12 September, Sweden’s biggest pension fund announced the appointment of Magnus Tell as Head of Equities. However, neither the role nor the boss to whom Tell will report will be completely new. Only last month, Alecta poached its chief investment officer, Pablo Bernengo, from an equivalent role at the Third Swedish National Pension Fund (AP3), where Tell has been heading the equity department for the past three years. Apparently, the two investment specialists enjoy their professional cooperation and are eager to jump ship together.
“I am very pleased that we have now recruited Magnus as our new Head of Equities,” comments Peder Hasslev, Alecta’s new CEO. “His skills and leadership qualities will help strengthen the organisation and rebuild confidence in Alecta’s asset management,” he adds.
Tell boasts a long and impressive career, both in Sweden and abroad. Prior to joining AP3 as a portfolio manager and asset allocator in 2013, he was a Partner at ABG Sundal Collier in Stockholm, responsible for the equity strategy. Previously, he has held positions as fund manager and head of strategy at Deutsche Bank and Arrowgrass Capital Partners in London and New York.
The experience and expertise acquired throughout the years will undoubtedly serve him well in his new position. Tell will be taking over Alecta’s giant equity portfolio, amounting to about SEK 450 billion. The holdings are distributed across Europe and the USA, with a focus on Sweden and the Nordic region. The pension fund’s portfolio suffered considerable losses in the first half of 2023 due to overweight positions in the three niche banks worst affected during the US banking crisis in March and April: Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank. Despite this setback, Alecta’s defined premium savings product, Alecta Optimal Pension, managed to return 6.6 per cent during the first half of 2023.
The pension giant is currently under a lot of scrutiny. Since May, the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority, Finansinspektionen (FI), has an ongoing investigation into Alecta’s risk management based on the investments in the three American banks. Just this week, FI announced that it would also investigate whether Alecta complied with applicable regulations in connection with another investment in real estate company, Heimstaden Bostad. “It is central to consumer protection that companies follow the rules,” comments Ellinor Samuelsson, Head of Risk Supervision Insurance at FI. “Basically, it is about safeguarding and protecting Swedish pension savers’ money.”
