According to the annual report from Swedish AP2, the Public Pension Fund recorded a 3.5% return in 2020 despite the pandemic. The return was strengthened by exposure to Swedish and Chinese equities.
Ap2 is one of five buffer funds within the Swedish pension system and is a secure and stable manager of assets. The Fund is tasked by Swedish Government to maximize the long-term return on Swedish pension assets.
Eva Halvarsson, CEO of AP2, said in a news release accompanying the annual report that 2020 in many ways was a very special year, strongly marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. She explained that the Fund managed to deliver much of what it had decided to do despite the challenges of the pandemic. She added, “We have taken key steps to further develop our asset management approach, which we hope and believe will contribute positively to returns and a more sustainable society.”
The annual report shows that the fund’s return equated to a net gain of SEK 12.8 billion compared to 2019 where the fund’s net return was 15.9 percent, equating to a SEK 53 billion gain. AP2’s five-year annualized return was 7.3 percent as of 31 December 2020 compared with 7.4 percent as of the same date the previous year. The 10-year annualized return was 7.7 percent vs. 8.4 percent in 2019. Assets for 2020 grew 1.3 percent to SEK 386.2 billion.
Read the full article with more details on AP2’s annual report here
