Finnish public sector pension provider Keva returned 8.6 per cent, equal to €6.3bn, on its investments in the first nine months of 2026, its interim results have revealed.

At the end of September, the market value of the investments was €80.2bn, up from €73.1bn at the same time last year.

Keva, which is responsible for financing the pensions of the municipal sector and wellbeing services counties and for investing pension assets, generated a 14.6 per cent return on listed equities between January and September 2026.

Over the same period, it returned 6.8 per cent on private equity investments (including unlisted equities), 6.6 per cent on hedge fund investments, 1.9 per cent on real estate investments (including real estate funds), and 1.4 per cent on fixed-income investments.

According to Keva CEO, Jaakko Kiander, equity markets have performed surprisingly strongly this year.

“Oil prices and geopolitical tensions have so far not undermined confidence. Thanks to the strong equity market, the value of Keva’s pension liability fund exceeded €80bn for the first time,” Kiander said.

The results also reported that the provider’s long-term investment returns remain at a good level, with the cumulative capital-weighted real return from the start of funding in 1988 until the reporting date being 4.1 per cent per year.

The corresponding real average return, excluding capital weighting, was 5 per cent. Meanwhile, the real return over the past five years was 1.9 per cent, and over the past 10 years was 4 per cent.

According to Keva chief investment officer, Maaria Kettunen, the strength of the equity market continues to be underpinned by strong corporate earnings.

On the other hand, the fixed-income portfolio performance, Kettunen said, reflects the rise in interest rates that has continued throughout the autumn.

“Concerns remain in the global investment environment: in addition to geopolitical and fiscal risks, the impact on markets of the enormous borrowing needs for artificial intelligence investments is also worrying. Higher interest rate levels may also start to cause strain in heavily indebted market segments,” she stated.
 

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