Sweden’s third national pension fund, AP3, made a return of 7.1 per cent (after expenses) in the first half of 2024, it has revealed.

Over the first half, AP3 increased its allocation to equities, which AP3 CEO, Staffan Hansén, said “paid off” as its positive results were “mainly driven by the strong performance of the global equity markets”.

Hansén is pleased with the returns delivered in the first half of the year and added: “I want to express my appreciation to all AP3 employees who are doing a fantastic job and delivering across the organisation.”

Looking at its key figures for the first half, its total profit for H1 was SEK 35,434m and its fund capital stood at SEK 534,339m at the end of the first half. AP3’s annualised asset management costs were 0.07 per cent, of which operating expenses were 0.06 per cent.

From the fund capital, SEK 866m was paid to the Swedish Pensions Agency to cover the difference between paid-in pension contributions and paid-out pensions and costs for the state income pension system during the first half of 2024.

AP3 had a return of 8.8 per cent on average per year over the past five-year period and 8.7 per cent over the past 10-year period.

Other highlights during the first half included the implementation of AP3’s new cloud-based portfolio system platform, carried out in close collaboration with AP4. The fund said this is expected to be completed as planned in the second quarter of 2025.

In the spring, AP3 published its action plan for biodiversity with associated goals and expectations for the companies. During the annual general meeting season from July 2023 to June 2024, AP3 voted at over 1,100 general meetings in 30 countries, which is virtually all meetings in the equity portfolio.

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