Danish pension fund ATP has reported that its investment portfolio achieved a return of 19.5 per cent relative to the bonus potential in 2025, with its portfolio of foreign equities credited as the driving force behind the result.

The positive result of the investment portfolio contributed to an increase in the bonus capacity over 2025 of 3.3 percentage points to stand at 20.4 per cent at the end of the year.

This meant that the bonus capacity remained at a reasonable level, even though the fund increased the ATP pension for all members, effective from 1 January 2026.

Commenting on the results, ATP CEO, Martin Præstegaard, said he was “very pleased” with both the return of almost 20 per cent in the investment portfolio and with its growing bonus capacity throughout 2025, which he called “a very volatile year”.

“The solid return helps strengthen ATP's already strong finances and thus helps to ensure that ATP can always pay out the pension promised to our members and that we can continuously increase the promised pension,” he continued.

“The latter was exactly what we did in 2025, so that all members' pension payments from ATP – both current pensioners and future pensioners – have increased by 2 per cent from the beginning of 2026.”

Despite these positive results, the fund explained that 2025 was generally characterised by a challenging investment environment with large market fluctuations and, in particular, geopolitical tensions driving volatility in the financial markets.

However, ATP is a long-term investor and in a “good position”, having delivered an average annual return of 10.4 per cent in its investment portfolio since 2008, accounting for approximately 20 per cent of its assets.

Præstegaard said that its total investment portfolio return of DKK 124bn over the past 10 years was a “solid boost”, and it meannt, among other things, that the fund has been able to increase the ATP pension four times during this period.

“With a return of just under 20 per cent in 2025, we’re in a good position to be able to increase the ATP pension again, just as we did at the beginning of 2026 at the latest," Præstegaard added.

ATP’s 2025 results also showed that its bonus ability had grown and, for 2025, its total profit from investments and hedging after tax was DKK 19.6bn, which has been transferred to the bonus potential. 

At the same time, the fund’s 2025 life expectancy review totalled DKK 1.4bn, due to slightly lower expected life expectancies, leading to an increase in the bonus potential.

Both the bonus ability and the lower life expectancy contributed to an increase in the bonus capacity from 17.1 per cent at the beginning of 2025 to 20.4 per cent at the end of the year. The bonus capacity improves the possibility of increasing guaranteed pensions for ATP’s members.

At the end of 2025, the bonus potential totalled DKK 16.5bn and, together with pension obligations of DKK 538bn and long-term supplementary provisions of DKK 39.5bn, members' assets totalled DKK 694bn.

Meanwhile, pension provisions fell by DKK 24bn in 2025, covering an increase of DKK 12bn in the bonus potential and the long-term supplementary provision, as well as a decline in the value of guaranteed pensions of DKK 36bn.

The fund explained that the decline in the value of guaranteed pensions was due to rising interest rates, and the movement had no impact on the size of the pensions.

The update also showed that ATP’s administrative costs in 2025 amounted to DKK 36 per member, and the total annual percentage rate for 2025 ended at 0.31 per cent, which the fund said is low in both a Danish and international context.

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