Finance Monthly CEO Awards 2019 Edition

www.finance-monthly.com FINANCE MONTHLY CEO AWARDS 2019 SWEDEN 58 FIRM PROFILE Founded in 1973 and equally co-owned by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation and the Confederation of Swedish Enterprises, AMF has the undisguised advantage of having strong and stable owners that through AMF aim to provide Swedish workers with the best and most secure occupational pension possible. Being a limited liability life insurance company but run according to mutual principles ensure that all profits are automatically returned to occupational pensions of the roughly four million customers AMF has today. AMF has one of the best returns on the market seen from a five, ten and 15-year period, which also has contributed to total assets under management increasing from roughly SEK 400 billion in 2012 to SEK 650 billion today providing AMF with even greater scalability and new investment opportunities. This also allows AMF to invest cost-efficiently with overall investment management costs totaling three basis points. Asset management at AMF has continuously adapted to market dynamics, which for the last few years has meant moving from more of a passive investment style to an active one. While the investment portfolio traditionally consisted of mostly listed equities, real estate and fixed income, it now has shifted to a more diversified portfolio with asset classes including infrastructure, real estate and forestry. These investments are made so that AMF owns or co-owns investments with likeminded institutional investors giving AMF better control over governance and lowering fees. Being an occupational pension company, AMF takes the long-term investment horizon, entering companies early on and investing in unlisted assets. Sustainability is a vital aspect and AMF only invests in companies that live up to the basic principles of human rights, labor law, the environment and anti-corruption based on the principles of the UN Global Compact and the OECD guidelines. In addition, AMF actively opts out of companies that contribute to increased environmental degradation. JOHAN SIDENMARK CEO of AMF ABOUT JOHAN SIDENMARK Ever since stepping in as CEO of Swedish occupational pension provider AMF in 2012, Johan Sidenmark has been an integral part of its evolving story. The story started with an article in a Swedish newspaper when a customer complained over high fees and administrative hassles of getting pension payments. In an opinion piece, Johan wrote back to that customer vowing to slash complexity and give all of AMF’s customers the best occupational pension possible. Easy to promise but it turned out to be much harder to accomplish. One reason is that in Sweden, employers and unions collectively and constantly renegotiate the occupational pension plans so that Swedish workers end up getting better and better plans. This might sound like a good thing, but it also means workers end up having several different pension plans for different time periods with separate fees connected to each plan that in effect give customer’s a higher total fee. From AMF’s perspective, this increases administration and adds administrative complexity but also inhibits customers from having only one plan, the best plan. Thus, a twostep solution was eventually implemented taking AMF through a five-year process of halving customers’ total fees and merging pension plans. The first step, providing as many customers as possible with only the latest and most advantageous pension plan, was also the most difficult step to take. It consisted of persistent lobbying and overcoming legal, technical and administrative hurdles. The second step was to shred unnecessary complexity by interring burdensome and costly legacy systems and introducing a secure and modern IT structure that can take AMF into a new digital era. Prior to AMF, Johan headed up Nordea’s Life Holding and was also responsible for the Nordic bank’s life insurance and pension companies in ten countries and has worked in senior positions since 2002 with Nordea’s investment management and advisory services. Previously Johan worked at Mercer, Watson Wyatt in London and PROSECUR. He has served as several Boards of directors within the Nordea Group. AMF Klara Södra Kyrkogata 18 113 88 Stockholm www.amf.se