Chair of Sweden’s biggest pension fund resigns as probe expands

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Alecta’s chairman has become the latest top executive to leave Sweden’s largest pension fund as regulators widen their investigation into a series of botched investments.

Ingrid Bonde said on Monday she would step down as chairman of Alecta effective immediately. Six months ago, the Swedish fund ended up being one of the biggest losers in the collapse of several U.S. banks, including Silicon Valley, when she fired Chief Executive Magnus Billing. bank.

Sweden’s financial watchdog is investigating Alecta’s investments. The Financial Supervisory Authority has also been scrutinizing the fund’s decision to buy a large stake in troubled Swedish real estate group Heimstaden Bostad since last month. Alecta manages $110 billion in assets for 2.8 million savers.

“I have decided to resign because too much attention has been paid to me personally,” Bond said.

Bond is one of Sweden’s leading financial figures, where her long career includes senior positions at key regulators, debt offices and three of the largest companies.

But Alecta’s strategy of placing massive concentrated bets has come under increasing scrutiny in Sweden.

Alecta is the fourth largest shareholder of Silicon Valley Bank, the fifth largest shareholder of First Republic Bank, and the sixth largest shareholder of Signature Bank. Those investments cost the fund $2 billion.

The Swedish Financial Services Authority is investigating Alecta’s risk management and whether the fund follow the rules At that time it invested 50 billion Swedish kronor ($4.6 billion) in Heimstaden.

Alecta said it would cooperate with the supervisory authority’s investigation.

The fund is one of Heimstaden’s largest investors, holding a 38% stake. Like much of Sweden’s real estate sector, the group has been hit by a series of rapid interest rate hikes.

Peder Hasslev, the former head of state-owned venture capital group Saminvest, who took over as chief executive of Alecta last month, told Swedish daily Dagbladet that the pension fund should not have invested in Heimstaden at all.

Jan-Olov Jack, vice-president and chief executive of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, will succeed Bond until a new chairman is elected. He has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2019.

“Alecta’s focus or direction will not change because Ingrid Bonde chooses to resign,” said Jacke and Martin Linder, another vice chairman of the board.

Alecta is working on its model of clustering a few large investments, which worked well before turmoil swept through the banking sector in the first quarter of this year.

Just before the crisis hit, the fund boasted to local media how it had sold Sweden’s most conservative bank to invest in niche banks in the United States.

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