The Swedish Pension Fund
The creation and objective of the Swedish Pension Fund
The sole objective of Tele2 Joint Pension Fund (Sw. Tele2 Gemensam Pensionsstiftelse) (the “Pension Fund”) is to secure pension commitments that are part of a general pension plan (Sw. allmän pensionsplan) as well as other pension commitments to employee’s or their survivors, which have been made by or assumed by Tele2 Sverige AB, other Swedish companies in a company group which includes Tele2 Sverige AB, or by another company that the Pension Fund decides shall be allowed to secure pension commitments in the Pension Fund.
The Pension Fund was founded in 2019. In connection with the formation of the Pension Fund, pension commitments by Com Hem AB were transferred to and assumed by Tele2 Sverige AB. The securing in the Telia Pension Fund that concerned Com Hem AB’s pension commitments, i.e. Com Hem’s “part” of the Telia Pension Fund, was thereafter transferred to the Tele2 Joint Pension Fund. No provisions are currently being made to the Pension Fund, since the relevant pension plan has been replaced by other pension plans, which are secured by other means.
Organisation and governance etc.
The Pension Fund is registered in Sweden and is seated in Stockholm. The Pension Fund is under the supervision of the County Administrative Board (Sw. Länsstyrelsen) and the Financial Supervisory Authority (Sw. Finansinspektionen).
The Pension Fund’s dealings are handled by a board, which is ultimately responsible for the Pension Fund’s organisation and administration. The board of the Pension Fund consists of equal numbers of employer and employee representatives.
The board drafts frameworks for management and governance in the form of policies and guidelines. These governance documents are regularly evaluated and updated.
The board’s administration and the financial accounts of the Pension Fund are audited by external auditors. In additional to external auditing an internal audit, which is independent of the day-to-day business, is also carried out each year.
Financials and investment profile
The market value of the Pension Fund’s assets was SEK 242,828,680 as per 31 December 2022.
The goal of the asset management of the Pension Fund’s funds is to, in the best possible way, secure the pension commitments of the participating companies in a careful and ethical manner. By way of investment guidelines, the board establishes the Pension Fund’s long-term strategic investment strategy and defines in the guidelines the framework for the asset management. The investment policy is established and updated on a yearly basis or when the need arises.
The funds of the Pension Fund can be invested in the following types of assets:
- interest-bearing securities,
- shares, and
- alternative investments (e.g. investments in real estate and infrastructure assets via private equity).
The Pension Fund invests, inter alia, in mutual funds (funds that invest in shares that are listed on the type of regulated market referred to in Chapter 1 Section 4 b of the Swedish Securities Market Act (2007:528) and that have been issued by a company within the European Economic Area, EEA). The mutual funds that the Pension Fund invests in have been chosen because they provide an expected return and risk level in line with the Pension Fund’s investment strategy both in the short and long term.
The asset management is performed by an external asset manager and with a global portfolio with well assessed risks, consisting of shares, interest bearing securities and alternative investments. The asset management is measured and evaluated continuously, inter alia, by examining the asset manager’s explicit and implicit costs, turnover speed and sustainability issues.
The Pension Fund does not appoint asset managers that have a renumeration model that incentivises short term and excessive risk taking. The Pension Fund’s assessment is that the renumeration models applied promotes a long term result and an asset portfolio that grows in absolute numbers. The Pension Fund’s assessment is that the principles for corporate governance applied by the asset manager in combination with the renumeration model encourages investment decisions that are bases on a review of the portfolio companies’ financial and non-financial results in the medium and long term and promotes an involvement in the portfolio companies with the purpose of improving their results in the medium to long term.
The asset manager’s assignment is until further notice and will be terminated if it does not correspond to the Pension Fund’s expectations.
Ethics & sustainability
In its asset management, the Pension Fund strives to be a responsible and ethical investor as well as to follow international conventions. The ethical principles followed shall be representative to most people’s opinions. The Pension Fund defines good ethics as distancing itself from crime and as having respect for serious business methods and respect for democratic principles and human rights according to the UN’s definition.
Asset managers engaged by the Pension Fund shall be transparent and fulfil the Pension Fund’s criteria regarding ethics and sustainability. Investments in companies that breach the principles of the UN Global Compact cannot be made. Further, investments shall not be made in countries that are subject to a UN or EU trade embargo that has been sanctioned by Sweden. When following up asset managers, it is also examined whether the Pension Fund’s ethical values are followed. The aim is that any asset manager that is engaged by the Pension Fund shall follow the UN PRI – Principles for Responsible Investments.
The Pension Fund has decided not to consider principal adverse impacts of its investment decisions on sustainability factors in accordance with article 4.1 (b) of the so-called Disclosure Regulation. The reasons for this decision are mainly:
- that sustainability risks are already integrated in risk handling and investment decisions to take height for the best possible return; and
- that sustainability factors such as environmental and human rights factors as well as the fight against corruption and bribery are already considered in the investment decisions, but that accounting for the principal adverse impacts on sustainability factors in accordance with the Disclosure Regulation and the belonging delegated regulation with tables for such decisions has been found disproportionately burdensome for the Pension Fund to consider, having regard to its size, nature, scope and complexity.
With respect to sustainability risks pertaining to the Pension Fund’s compensation policy, such risks are considered to be insignificant. The compensation policy is drafted in such a way that is shall be compatible with and promote a sound and efficient handling of risks and to work against excessive risk taking, including sustainability risks. According to the compensation policy, the compensation paid to external assignees shall be based on market pricing and there is a lack of incentive for individual risk taking.
The Pension Fund’s compliance with the regulation regarding corporate governance in listed companies in the EEA
The Pension Fund invests in shares that are listed for trade on a regulated market. The Pension Fund has chosen not to adopt principles for corporate governance according to Section 10 e of the Swedish Act on Securing Pension Commitments etc. (1967:531) due to:
- 1. that the investments in shares that are traded on a regulated market are limited, and
- 2. that the Pension Fund has limited resources to monitor the portfolio companies.
It can further be noted that the share investments are mainly made through external mutual funds, which means that the respective fund company is responsible for the investments and thereby also responsible for applying the principles for corporate governance.
The Pension Fund regularly follows up on the development of the funds.
Information on request
Bylaws, annual report and investment policy as well as further information about the Pension Fund are provided on request in paper format to persons to whom the Pension Fund secures a pension commitment.
Contact information
Name: Tele2 Gemensam Pensionsstiftelse (Tele2 Joint Pension Fund)
Address: c/o PRI Stiftelsetjänst AB (1580), Box 5390, 40228 Gothenburg, Sweden
Phone number: +46 (0)31-778 30 40