Iceland’s Birta Pension Fund and Lífeyrissjóður verzlunarmanna (The Pension Fund of Commerce, LV) have announced they have begun merger talks.

The boards of the two pension funds said they were having “exploratory discussions” to assess the feasibility of a possible merger of the funds.

“The pension funds have a long and successful operating history that has delivered solid benefits to their fund members and contributed to financial security upon retirement,” the boards stated.

The discussions will centre on whether there is a basis for initiating formal discussions on merging the funds.

This, the boards explained, involves assessing whether a merger would be suitable for further strengthening their operations, including through increased operational efficiency, stronger infrastructure and improved service to fund members.

This latest announcement follows a string of merger activity, which dominated the latter half of 2025.

In September, Lífsverk and Almenni signed a merger agreement to create an ISK 667bn fund, which has now taken effect.

The Akureyri Employees' Pension Fund (LSA) and Brú Pension Fund have also confirmed that the two funds merged in January 2025 following board approval.

In addition, the Frjálsi Pension Fund and the Pension Fund of the Icelandic Dental Association (LTFÍ) signed an agreement to merge the pension funds with Frjálsi taking over all LTFÍ’s assets and liabilities from 31 December 2025.

Frjálsi then announced that it had signed a letter of intent to begin formal discussions on merging with the Farmers' Pension Fund (LSB).

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