The Swedish Fund Selection Agency has revealed its decisions regarding the procurement of European equity funds (index) for the Premium Pension Fund platform. Four fund managers have been selected to participate in this initiative.
In an announcement made on October 31, the agency stated that it has awarded contracts for the fund category focusing on large and mid-cap companies. The selected fund managers and their respective funds are as follows:
Handelsbanken Fonder AB: Handelsbanken Europa Index Criteria
Skandia Fonder: Skandia Europa Exponering
Storebrand Fonder AB: Storebrand Europa
Swedbank Robur Fonder AB: Swedbank Robur Access Europa
This decision will allocate over SEK 16 billion of premium pension savers’ funds to the newly contracted funds.
For pension savers, this procurement ensures that all funds within the category have undergone rigorous scrutiny, affirming their quality. Furthermore, the average fee for these funds has been significantly reduced from 0.135% to 0.046%.
Mats Dillén, Chairman of the Swedish Fund Selection Agency, commented, “The agency has now completed a total of three procurements, including the two recent awards, marking a significant step toward a fully procured fund platform.”
By law, the procured funds must meet specific criteria, including being suitable, controllable, sustainable, cost-efficient, and of high quality. Additionally, the fund platform must provide pension savers with a range of choices.
Erik Fransson, Executive Director of the Swedish Fund Selection Agency, noted, “The procurement results demonstrate our effective process that ensures a high level of target fulfillment. The substantial reduction in fees, coupled with improved quality, will have a positive impact on pension savers.”
Approximately 180,000 pension savers currently hold investments in the funds impacted by this procurement. Funds that were not allocated will be phased out of the fund platform following the finalization of this decision. Savers affected by the removal of funds will have the opportunity to make new investment choices; however, if no action is taken, they will be automatically transferred to a comparable procured fund.
Related topics: