First, we highlight the continued growth of the active ETF market. Earlier this week we received a press release from Franklin Templeton, which highlighted that the asset manager will be launching the Franklin ClearBridge US Smaller Companies UCITS ETF. The new ETF listed on the Deutsche Börse Xetra on 30 October and will list on London Stock Exchange, Euronext Paris and Borsa Italiana on November 3. It is registered for distribution in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland (country of domicile), Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.
“The Nordics are maturing rapidly, with investors increasingly using ETFs not just for broad market exposure but for more targeted, outcome-driven allocations. Active ETFs have a vital role to play in this evolution, enabling investors to pursue active strategies with the same efficiency, cost-effectiveness and liquidity that they expect from traditional ETFs,” says Wictor Comstedt, senior ETF Sales Nordics at Franklin Templeton.
This week we also learned that the Government Pension Fund Global (known as “the oil fund”) returned 5,8 per cent in the third quarter. Its equity holdings returned 7,7 per cent and fixed income returned 1,4 per cent. Investments in unlisted real estate returned 1,1 per cent and its unlisted renewable energy infrastructure investments returned 0,3 per cent.
“The result is driven by strong returns in the stock market, particularly in basic materials, telecommunications and the financial sector,” says Trond Grande, deputy CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management. As of 30 September 2025, the fund had a value of NOK 20 440 billion.
One news item that we missed earlier this fall is that Finnish foundation Föreningen Konstsamfundet has announced that it’s changing its name. The new official name is Amos Andersons fond rf. “In his will, Amos wished that Konstsamfundet would establish a fund with his name. This was also done, but later the fund was discontinued in order to simplify the legal structure. Today, we use this name because it has a more modern sound, it works better in both Finnish and international contexts, and it signals that we also support much more than art,” says CEO Stefan Björkman.
In the people moves area we picked up news that Dan Wejse has been hired as head of global equities at AkademikerPension, where his mandate is to establish a process for an internal process of active management of global equities. He will also be responsible for external global equity mandates. Dan Wejse most recently managed MW Compounders together with a partner where they invested in a concentrated portfolio of global equities. He has previously also been a senior equity analyst and more recently head of research, fundamental equities at Nordea Asset Management.
Another news item from Denmark is that as part of a joint European supervisory activity, the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority has investigated how a manager of alternative investment funds and two investment management companies comply with key provisions for the compliance function and internal audit. The investigation revealed shortcomings in the compliance function’s review and control of manager-specific areas, such as valuations and liquidity management. This was particularly true when the manager was part of a group. Here, manager-specific risks were downgraded in favour of group-specific matters that are not necessarily key risks for a manager.
Yet another story linked to Denmark is that Storebrand Real Estate has made its first acquisition by its recently launched Storebrand Real Estate Fund II. The acquired portfolio comprises a total of 38 193 sqm distributed across 441 apartments, with more than 70 percent of the underlying property value concentrated in Copenhagen. The transaction included seven properties and was completed off-market, with Pædagogernes Pension (PBU) as the seller.
First, we highlight the continued growth of the active ETF market. Earlier this week we received a press release from Franklin Templeton, which highlighted that the asset manager will be launching the Franklin ClearBridge US Smaller Companies UCITS ETF. The new ETF listed on the Deutsche Börse Xetra on 30 October and will list on London Stock Exchange, Euronext Paris and Borsa Italiana on November 3. It is registered for distribution in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland (country of domicile), Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. “The Nordics are maturing rapidly, with investors increasingly using ETFs not just for broadIf you’re new to Tell Media Group, create an account first.
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