The Swedish Fund Selection Agency (FTN) has announced its decision on the procurement of the actively managed and passively managed Swedish equity funds for the premium pension fund platform. 

The FTN gave notice for the procurement of actively and passively managed Swedish equity funds, focusing mainly on large and mid-cap companies, last year, as part of its broader procurement plan for 2025.

It has since confirmed that seven fund managers have been offered fund agreements for a total of ten funds, five of which have already been available on the fund platform and five of which are new, with around SEK 92bn of premium pension savers' funds to be allocated to these. 

Around 570,000 pension savers with holdings in the funds are set to be affected by the changes.

The fund managers and funds are: AMF Fonder AB (AMF Aktiefond Sverige), Carnegie Fonder AB (Carnegie Sverigefond), Cliens Kapitalförvaltning AB (Cliens Sverige), Handelsbanken Fonder AB (Handelsbanken Sverige Selektiv), SEB Funds AB (SEB Sverigefond and SEB 3 - SEB Sweden Equity Fund), Simplicity AB (Simplicity Sverige), Swedbank Robur Fonder AB (Folksam LO Sverige and Swedbank Robur Sverige). 

The FTN confirmed that all the funds in the category have undergone an extensive evaluation and are of high quality, with legal requirements meaning that the funds procured must be suitable, controllable, sustainable, cost-efficient, and high quality.

“Our assessment is that these are high-quality funds that have the potential to generate good returns over time. In addition, savers will be able to invest in the funds at generally low fees”, FTN chairman, Mats Dillén, said. 

Adding to this, FTN executive director, Erik Fransson, said: “Swedish fund managers have demonstrated a strong commitment to contributing to a stronger premium pension system.

"All tenders received have met the mandatory requirements, and there has been tough competition for places on the fund platform."

Alongside this, the FTN confirmed its decision in the procurement of passively managed Swedish equity funds, revealing that three fund managers were awarded fund agreements for a total of five funds on the premium pension platform, two of which are new to the fund platform. 

Around SEK 65bn of premium pension savers' funds will be allocated to these funds, with approximately 450,000 pension savers with holdings in these funds affected by the news.

The fund managers and funds are: Cicero Fonder AB (Aktiespararna Topp Sverige), Handelsbanken Fonder AB (Handelsbanken Sverige 100 Index Criteria, Handelsbanken Sverige Index Criteria and Handelsbanken Sverige LM Index), and Swedbank Robur Fonder AB (Swedbank Robur Access Sverige). 

Dillén once again emphasised the high-quality of these funds, stating: “The index funds procured are those that, in the overall assessment, are considered to offer the best combination of high quality and low fees."

This was echoed by Fransson, who argued that whilst it is easy to assume that all index funds are identical, the differences are more significant than one might think at first glance.

"The funds procured have demonstrated that they possess the expertise and processes necessary to provide value to investors," he stated.

The FTN confirmed that any funds that have not been allocated will be deregistered from the fund platform following a phasing-out period.

Savers with funds removed from the fund platform will then be allowed to make a new choice, with the funds automatically moved to an equivalent procured fund if no choice is made.

Further procurements are also underway, as the FTN is expected to announce a decision on the procurement of actively managed global equities in Q4 2025 or Q1 2026, having given notice on this in November last year.

Work on the procurement for European equity funds and Swedish equity funds is also still underway, after the FTN shared the final procurement specifications in April. A financial decision date is yet to be announced.

In addition to this, the FTN is expected to give notice on the procurement for technology equity funds in Q3 2025, having just recently shared the preliminary procurement specification ahead of this.

Notice on the procurement for both active and passive US and North American equity funds, with a focus on mid-large cap companies, is also expected in the second half of this year (H2 2025).

However, concerns around the FTN's procurement process are emerging, as AMF Fonder CEO, Katarina Romberg, recently argued that the “resource-intensive” process of risks excluding smaller fund managers and could negatively impact Sweden’s capital market.

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