How changes to the Swedish pension system will affect asset managers

Today, the Swedish pension group Pensionsgruppen, a political entity representing parties from both government and opposition, presented an agreement on large scale changes to the Swedish pension system. Most critical and relevant for asset managers are the upcoming changes to the premium pension system, the funded part of the first pillar state pension that allows individuals to choose from over 850 funds on a specially built platform.

The enquiry, thrust forward by recent scandals involving funds on the pension platform, resulted in a proposal, which will see the premium pension system changed in two stages in order to make it as “safe” as possible. According to the proposal, the first step will see the implementation of a program of 30 action points, presented earlier this year. This is likely to result in a number of funds being removed from the platform, including funds that are too small, have a limited history or have more than a certain percentage of assets from the premium pension system. According to