The Danish Doctors' Pension Fund (Lægernes Pension) achieved a total investment return of DKK 10.4bn in 2024, its annual results have revealed.

The return on investment was 9.5 per cent in 2024 and over a 5-year period, the fund has achieved an annual return of 5.8 per cent.

According to the results, Lægernes Pension has continued to grow with total assets under management rising to DKK 126bn.

It credited this growth to positive return on investment in 2024 and a growth in members' pension contributions of almost 5 per cent due to the doctors' collective agreement choosing to pay more into pensions.

Additionally, the number of members grew in 2024 to just under 52,000, while a larger proportion of members retired in 2024, when pension payments grew by almost 9 per cent.

The cost per member has been reduced from DKK 535 to DKK 480 in 2024, which Danica said is among the lowest in the industry and primarily due to an “extraordinary” refund of VAT from previous years. The cost per member is expected to be higher in 2025.

The results also showed that in 2024, members with savings at an average interest rate received an interest rate of 4.25 per cent.

In continuation of the year's return of 9.5 per cent, the return has been increased to 5.9 per cent in 2025 for these members, which includes four out of five doctors.

Approximately one in five members are saving for a pension at market interest rates, which all new members of the pension fund have received since 2023.

The members with market interest rates are typically young and have 30 years or more until retirement. The results found that for those with 30 years to retirement and medium risk, the return on investment was 13.9 per cent.

The members of Lægernes Pension are also covered by an insurance scheme that protects the doctor and the relatives if the doctor falls ill or dies.

In 2024, this meant that almost 2,000 received a pension after a deceased spouse or cohabitant, 700 children received a pension after a deceased parent or a parent who has lost the ability to work as a doctor, and 550 doctors received pensions in connection with the loss of the ability to work as doctors.

Additionally, more than 100 doctors were paid a sum of money after being affected by a critical illness.

The annual results also found that satisfaction among the pension fund's members remained high, and the members were the most satisfied customers in the pension industry, according to the Pension Barometer 2024, which is used by the industry to measure customer satisfaction.

---