AkademikerPension has retained its position as the highest-ranked pension provider in the annual Økonomisk Ugebrev Climate Rating for the Danish pension sector, marking the second consecutive year it has topped the survey.

The pension fund improved its score from 14 points in 2025 to 15 out of 18 in this year's assessment.

Commenting on the result, AkademikerPension CEO, Jens Munch Holst, said: “I am of course very proud that we have taken first place for the second year in a row.

“It clearly shows that we also put action behind our words when it comes to climate responsibility.”

The ranking highlighted a significant increase in the fund's green investments, which rose from 12.5 per cent of total assets in 2025 to 16.8 per cent this year.

AkademikerPension said this equates to DKK 27.5bn being invested directly in activities supporting the green transition and places the fund on track to meet its target of allocating 22.5 per cent of assets to green investments by 2030.

AkademikerPension investment director, Anders Schelde, revealed that the fund had deliberately diversified its green investment portfolio across a range of asset classes.

“We find climate-oriented opportunities in all the asset classes we invest in, from green bonds and infrastructure loans to direct investments in wind turbines and solar cells, but with our eyes open to the fact that the green transition may face headwinds and that the supply of attractive opportunities in the coming years is uncertain,” he explained.

The pension fund also reported a substantial reduction in the carbon intensity of its equity portfolio.

According to AkademikerPension, the carbon footprint of its listed equity investments has fallen from 9.6 tonnes of CO2 per million invested in 2019 to 3.7 tonnes in 2025, representing a 61 per cent reduction over six years.

The fund attributed the decline to a long-term strategy that included divesting from fossil fuel companies between 2018 and 2019 and increasing allocations to climate-focused investments.

AkademikerPension also highlighted the approval of its climate targets by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which it described as the leading international standard for corporate climate target-setting.

Looking ahead, the pension fund said it is placing greater emphasis on active ownership as further reductions in portfolio emissions become more challenging.

Indeed, it recently introduced a new transition target to ensure that at least 10 per cent of its most greenhouse gas-intensive holdings are on a pathway aligned with the Paris Agreement by 2030.

Holst stressed that the fund continued to view climate considerations as integral to long-term investment performance.

“We remain convinced that companies that do not adapt will pose a major financial risk in the long term.

“By considering climate across the entire portfolio, we help ensure that returns and responsibility go hand in hand.”

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