Northern Trust has supported AMF Tjänstepension AB – formerly AMF Pensionsförsäkring AB – in becoming an occupational pension provider in Sweden under the European Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision (IORP) II Directive.
AMF is one of Sweden’s largest pension companies, with SEK 800 billion ($85 billion) in assets for 4 million customers. AMF is owned equally by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation and the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.
Christoffer Axelsson, chief operating offer at AMF, said: “Our move to become an occupational pension provider positions us well for the future, together with a decision to merge our asset management and administration units into a new single business entity. This required substantial changes to our business model, and a resulting transfer of assets.
“Throughout this organisational change we have relied on the support of Northern Trust, with whom we have developed a deep relationship spanning two decades. Their local market expertise, technical capabilities, and collaborative, solutions-driven approach have helped us to achieve our objective.”
Bo Thulin, head of Northern Trust in the Nordics, add that the custodian is proud of its relationship with AMF. “We welcomed the opportunity to support them on their journey to deliver best possible retirement outcomes for pension scheme members. As a long-term partner to the pensions and insurance industry, we bring significant experience and a solutions-oriented mindset to support our clients through organisational and regulatory change.”
In the fourth quarter of 2021, the custodian saw revenues from investment servicing rise 8% year-on-year. Key to this, said Michael O’Grady, chief executive of Northern Trust, was the extension of its mandate with investment manager Pendal Group, and other other agreements with BlueBox Asset Management, Omba Investments, Pendal, Castelnay Group and the Asset Management Exchange.