During the first half of 2021, Andra AP-fonden (AP2) continued its intensive work of integrating sustainability in its portfolio management. This includes a number of investments in sustainable infrastructure, such as the investment in Northvolt through an AP Fund-owned (AP1, AP2, AP3, AP4) company. The Fund’s approach to sustainability is based on the conviction that sustainability leads to better portfolio management results, for the benefit of the income pension system and of pensioners.

AP2 publishes a separate half-year report on the Fund’s sustainability work. The background is the Fund’s wish to be as transparent as possible and the high level of activity in the sustainability area. The report presents the work on the basis of the Fund’s four focus areas within sustainability: climate, corporate governance, diversity and human rights.

“During the first half of the year, we continued to develop our sustainability work within all of the Fund’s focus areas. We are one of the few investors in the world to publish a second report on human rights in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles’ Reporting Framework. The report describes our method of identifying companies involved in human rights controversies, which are thereby engaged in dialogue and may be excluded from the portfolio. It also describes the framework we have developed to manage the Fund’s geographical exposure with a focus on human rights. The framework is based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the Fund’s Human Rights Policy,” says Eva Halvarsson, CEO of Andra AP-fonden.

“At the beginning of June 2021, the Swedish National Audit Office published an audit report on the AP Funds’ sustainability work. This report showed that the AP Funds conduct appropriate sustainability work in relation to their mission. The audit also confirmed that the AP Funds have established processes and integrate sustainability in both asset management and corporate governance,” says Eva Halvarsson.

Significant events during the first half-year:

• In February 2021, AP2 signed the “Net Zero Asset Owners Commitment” developed by the Institutional Investor Group on Climate Change’s (IIGCC) Paris-Aligned Investment Initiative, which is accredited by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change as a Race to Zero initiative. This is a global campaign to mobilise a coalition of leading net zero initiatives with the aim of accelerating the transition to a CO2-free economy before COP26. For AP2, signing this document entails a number of specific commitments.
• Since the end of 2020, the Fund’s global equity and credit portfolio has been managed in accordance with the criteria for the EU Paris-Aligned Benchmark (PAB). This entails that the Fund no longer invests in around 250 companies because they have income from coal, oil or gas. During the first half of 2021, the Fund worked to analyse and develop PAB for the Fund’s management of Swedish equities. During the first half of 2021, the Fund worked to analyse and develop PAB for the Fund’s management of Swedish equities.
• The Fund has continued to invest in sustainable infrastructure and further investments were made during the first half of 2021.
• AP2 has supported a document setting out investor expectations for banks, “Aligning the Banking Sector with the Goals of the Paris Agreement”, produced by the IIGCC and which includes the requirement of a net zero commitment by 2050, that boards have sufficient expertise to oversee the climate strategy, and that the banks report in line with the recommendations of the TCFD.
• In the first half of 2021, AP2 voted at 888 foreign and 111 Swedish general meetings.
• During the period, AP2 published its second report on human rights in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles’ Reporting Framework. This report describes the Fund’s work on human rights in greater detail, and enhances the Fund’s transparency in its work to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, in terms of both progress and challenges.

Read the entire AP2 Sustainability Report for the first half of 2021 on the Fund’s website www.ap2.se

For further information please contact:
Eva Halvarsson, AP2’s CEO, tel. no. (+46) (0)31 704 29 00, or
Ulrika Danielson, Head of Corporate Communications, tel. no. (+46) (0)709 50 16 13.

Andra AP-fonden is one of five buffer funds within the Swedish pension system and one of northern Europe’s largest pension funds. The Fund’s assets under management total SEK 421.2 billion (30 June 2021), and cover essentially all asset classes across the entire world. We are leading specialists in the Swedish pension system and strive to be a world-class asset manager. We are a global leader in integrating sustainability in our investments, for the benefit of the pension system. The Fund is a long-term and responsible asset manager. www.ap2.se