Bjarne Graven Larsen, chief investment officer of the 418 billion Danish kroner ($73.4 billion) ATP pension fund, Hilleroed, Denmark, will leave early next year to become co-CEO of Danish investment bank FIH Erhvervsbank, according to ATP spokesman Svend Aagaard Nielsen.
Mr. Larsen’s duties will be assumed by Henrik Gade Jepsen, ATP’s CIO for beta, in the interim until a permanent replacement is named, Mr. Nielsen added.
Mr. Larsen will become co-CEO alongside Henrik Sjogreen, current CEO of FIH. The bank was acquired in September by a consortium that included ATP; the 366 billion Danish kroner PFA Pension, Copenhagen; and Swedish insurance company Folksam.
Mr. Larsen, who has been at ATP for about 12 years, led ATP to gradually restructure its investment philosophy by separating the beta and alpha sources of returns within its portfolio beginning in 2005. These changes in the risk/return profile of the investment portfolio helped ATP to weather the financial crisis relatively unscathed, returning -6% in 2008 as many of its peers suffered double-digit losses. He also led the fund to expand its alternatives portfolio, particularly in environmentally sustainable strategies including timber and clean energy.
”Bjarne Graven Larsen has for several years made an excellent contribution and created outstanding results in ATP,” ATP CEO Lars Rohde said in a news release about the appointment. “With Bjarne Graven Larsen and Henrik Sjogreen, FIH will get a strong executive board which together with the other members of the management group and the employees in FIH will be able to ensure that the bank will provide the owners with a good return.”
