Alecta has announced that its CEO, Magnus Billing, is to step down from his position with immediate effect following losses of SEK 19.6bn due to the collapse of three American banks the pension company invested in.

In March, Alecta incurred losses of SEK 19.6bn when three American banks (Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and Silvergate) in its portfolio collapsed amid a banking crisis in the US.

Following further discussions, the board decided to relieve Billing of his duties to help restore trust in the pension company.

Deputy CEO, Katarina Thorslund, has been appointed as acting CEO, and the recruitment process to find a permanent CEO will begin immediately.

In the meantime, Ingrid Blonde will support the organisation as working chair of the board.

Since Alecta announced the losses, its management and board have worked to isolate the losses and work through the processes within asset management to understand how the situation arose, the pension company stated.

Its first step was to make an assessment as to whether the current investment decisions were within the framework and mandate established by the board.

This assessment has been shared by the board and it said it welcomed the Financial Supervisory Authority’s review of the course of events.

Alecta stated that the losses had seriously damaged confidence in Alecta’s asset management and the decisions on measures to strengthen capital management, which were announced last week, have the support of the board.

Ann Grevelius will take over as acting head of equity on 20 April and a strategic review of how Alecta will conduct equity management going forward has already begun.

The work is expected to be ready in principle for the board to make a decision on before the summer.

Following the losses, the board came to the conclusion that Alecta needed new leadership to implement changes in asset management and restore trust.

"We would like to thank CEO Magnus Billing for the solid work he has put in during his time at Alecta for the good of the company and the customers,” commented Blonde.

“At the same time, Alecta now needs to look ahead and forcefully implement the necessary changes."

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