Equity markets helped occupational pension fund KPA Pensionsforsakring, Stockholm — part of retirement and insurance firm Folksam Group — return 7.6% in 2023, according to annual results released Feb. 9.
The 15.4-percentage-point increase from 2022 was also helped by interest rates that together with equities offset real estate losses, said KPA, which manages 296.2 billion Swedish kronor ($28.3 billion).
KPA's average annual returns were 5.5% over five years and 5.6% over 10 years.
Marcus Blomberg, director of investment for Folksam, said in a statement that new KPA investments in 2023 included infrastructure and real estate, "which is in line with our long-term strategy."
Real estate was negatively affected by higher policy rates and increased uncertainty in 2023, Blomberg said.
KPA CEO Camilla Larsson said in the statement that the manager is highly rated by participants for sustainability and will continue investing in green bonds. On Dec. 19, Folksam said it invested 5.6 billion Swedish kroner in the Copenhagen Infrastructure V fund managed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, with KPA Pension taking 3.8 billion of that.
