Swedish Fund Selection Agency is gearing up to launch a series of searches for money managers to run a total of about one trillion Swedish kronor ($93.3 billion) in defined contribution assets and will only accept submissions from firms that follow ESG rules, a spokeswoman said.
The agency will be launching the first procurement in the spring and will issue the first RFP via its website.
Consultant PPCmetrics was appointed to assist in the procurement process.
The selected firms will manage assets for Sweden's public premium reserve retirement platform, which forms the country's mandatory defined contribution system, and has about €200 billion ($212.9 billion) in total assets.
The selected firms will have operations in Europe and will manage UCITS funds that are complaint with the European Union's ESG rules (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation).
The agency said that managers will be excluded from participation if they breach applicable environmental, social or labor law obligations.
Fund managers with at least 5 billion Swedish kronor in total assets under management will be considered and cannot have more than 5% of assets under management in fund of funds. Exchange-traded funds will not be considered.
Fund managers should have an engagement policy and should be able to accommodate exclusions based on international treaties, according to procurement guidelines on the agency's website.
