The Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund (AP4) made a return of 6.9 per cent, after costs, in the first half of 2024.

As of the end of June 2024, AP4's fund capital amounted to SEK 533.3bn, compared with SEK 499.6bn at the beginning of the year. Profit for the first half of the year was SEK 34.6bn. During the same period, SEK 0.9bn was transferred to the pension system.

"The strong performance in the equity markets that ended 2023 continued in the first half of 2024, which was favourable for AP4's portfolio development. The return after costs was 6.9 per cent in the first half of the year, while management costs decreased compared with the previous year," AP4 CEO, Niklas Ekvall, said.

Regarding asset management costs, including commission expenses, on an annual basis, this stood at 0.08 per cent.

AP4’s annualised return over five years was 7.7 per cent at the end of June 2024 and over 10 years the figure is 8.5 per cent. Since 2001, the start of the reformed pension system, the annual average return is 6.6 per cent.

“Over time, AP4 has thus made a very significant contribution to strengthening the Swedish public pension system,” Ekvall said.

He also spoke about AP4’s responsible investment work, which has seen it win several awards in recent years. This year it was awarded the title of Sovereign Wealth Fund of the Year at Environmental Finance's Sustainable Investment Awards 2024.

“The awards over the years are proof that our work is successful, which at the same time motivates us to continue to develop our operations," Ekvall concluded.

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