The government has appointed Torbjörn Dalin as a new member of AP2’s Board of Directors and from 1 August Ingrid Albinsson as Vice Chair. Members of the Board are thus:
Jan Roxendal (Chair)
Ingrid Albinsson (from 1 Aug 2023)
Hanse Ringström
Torbjörn Dalin
Åsa Erba-Stenhammar
Agneta Wallmark
Rikard Andersson
Mikael Bohman
As a partner to the global sustainability award WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award, we can now announce that the recipients of the 2023 award are Bellingcat and its founder Eliot Higgins (WIN WIN Award) and Abbie Richards (WIN WIN Youth Award). The theme this year is Fighting Disinformation.
Bellingcat’s innovative techniques have spearheaded a new era of investigative journalism, resulting in the discovery of crucial information about pressing global issues. As an autonomous, international collective of journalists, researchers, and media analysts, Bellingcat employs open-source information, social media, and other publicly available resources to probe conflicts and crises across the globe. Notably, Bellingcat’s findings played a significant role in the Oscar-winning documentary on Aleksei Navalny.
Abbie Richards has created the interactive chart “The Conspiracy Chart”, which has become widely popular around the world and used by both academics and government agencies to communicate the complexity of conspiracy theories. Abbie Richards is praised for her ability to educate and engage a wide audience using humour, facts, and accessible graphic design, thereby contributing to a deeper understanding of some of today’s most complex social issues.
The prize will be awarded at the WIN WIN Awards annual gala on October 20 in Gothenburg.
Jenny Gustafsson has been appointed as the new Head of the AP Funds’ Council on Ethics. Jenny joins the Council from AMF and will lead the work of further strengthening the Council and contributing both to value creation in the income pension system and to more sustainable societies. The recruitment is part of the development of the Council.
AP Funds AP1, AP2, AP3 and AP4 have recruited Jenny Gustafsson to the role of Head of the AP Funds’ Council on Ethics. Jenny will be responsible for the continuing the development of the Council’s activities. This involves working towards the new long-term goals for operations, building an organisation and ensuring that the AP Funds continue to operate as exemplary managers and responsible owners in the field of sustainability, with a strong foundation of trust and a solid reputation.
Jenny has for many years held leading positions in sustainable investments in the asset management organisations at AMF and Handelsbanken. She has engaged in advocacy work in areas such as climate change and human rights with Swedish and international companies. She has also played a part in the growing coordination and development of sustainability issues in the financial sector. Jenny will take up the position in June.
Magdalena Håkansson, Chair of the AP Funds’ Council on Ethics, says:
“We are delighted with the recruitment of Jenny Gustafsson and her combined skills and experience in leadership and sustainable investments. The Head of the Council has a particularly key role in strengthening the AP Funds’ work as responsible owners. It has been important to find a person who both has a great understanding of the complex advocacy work that we have ahead of us, and can lead and develop the new Council.”
Jenny Gustafsson, incoming Head of the AP Funds’ Council on Ethics:
“I have long followed the work of the AP Funds and the Council on Ethics with great interest. I can say that the Council has a good reputation, not least internationally, thanks to a solid, long-term approach. I am both pleased and honoured to be given the opportunity to build on and develop the activities of the Council, going forward. Personally, my driving force is to develop sustainability strategies and to influence companies to change, while contributing to long-term value creation in both companies and society.”
For more information, contact:
Magdalena Håkansson, Chair of the AP Funds’ Council on Ethics, +46 8 566 20 200
The AP Funds Council on Ethics
See previous press releases on the development work of the AP Funds’ Council on Ethics.
The AP Funds’ Council on Ethics is a collaboration between AP1, AP2, AP3 and AP4 on sustainability issues, with the aim of strengthening the AP Funds as exemplary managers and responsible owners, based on a strong foundation of trust and a solid reputation. The aim of the collaborative effort is to achieve a positive impact on portfolio companies and their value chains from an economic, environmental and social perspective. Collaboration within the Council on Ethics has a strong position both nationally and internationally and today plays a key role, through dialogue and engagement, in driving positive change in foreign companies in which the Swedish AP Funds are shareholders.
The Council works both proactively and reactively with companies in the portfolios held by the AP Funds. The point of departure is that over time, well-managed and responsible companies provide higher returns at lower risk. The Council’s aim is for companies and sectors to use a systematic, structured and transparent approach to working on sustainability.
As of 1 January, the Council’s organisation consists of a new Board with one member from each fund appointed by the respective CEO. The Council’s Secretariat will be reinforced with additional resources in the form of the incoming Head of the Council on Ethics. Read more at www.etikrådet.se
The AP Funds’ Council on Ethics had a highly active 2022, with more than 3,200 companies being screened for possible violations and incidents. One project that was successfully closed in 2022 centred on child labour in the cocoa sector. A further 16 new dialogues were initiated. In eight proactive projects the focus is on human rights, the climate and corporate governance and 86 reactive company dialogues are ongoing, aimed at addressing and preventing serious accidents and incidents linked to lack of sustainability.
“Through a proactive project on child labour in the cocoa sector, the Council has for several years been engaged in successful dialogue with seven of the world’s largest cocoa and chocolate suppliers. Significant progress has been made towards the goal of reducing child labour in cocoa farming, and eventually eliminating it altogether. The focus of the project has been to ensure that children in cocoa-growing communities receive education, to ensure systems for identifying and remedying child labour and to enable cocoa farmers to earn an adequate living. Challenges still remain, but in all these areas we can confirm that major improvements have been made”, says Pia Axelsson, Chair of the Council in 2022.
One important proactive project that the Council has reported on in the past is the one concerning the big tech companies and privacy-related issues.
“Several milestones have been achieved and in 2022 preparations started on an international collaborative project with the tech companies. This will be led by the Council and operated in conjunction with other international institutional investors. The aim is via dialogue to exert influence aimed at improving the management of sustainability challenges such as disinformation, extremism and election manipulation”, says Pia Axelsson.
In its proactive work during the year, the Council contacted and assessed around 100 companies regarding their climate-based reporting, with the aim of following up advocacy work aimed at promoting greater transparency in line with the TCFD’s recommendations, issued in 2019.
“The Council found that companies have developed both focus on and transparency in climate-related issues. Most companies appreciated the feedback and the opportunity to discuss how they could further develop their reporting”, says Pia Axelsson.
The Council also collaborates with other investors through sector-wide dialogues, within the Climate Action 100+ project, in order to help companies in emission-intensive industries to develop roadmaps for transitioning to a low-fossil fuel society.
Through its reactive work, the Council exerts an influence on companies to address and prevent serious incidents. The objective is that companies should adopt a more systematic approach to sustainability via policies, implementation and transparent reporting, which may prevent incidents. More than 3,200 holdings in the portfolios of the AP Funds were screened during the year for incidents that could be considered to violate an international convention. 3,091 companies passed the screening process without comment.
“At year-end, advocacy dialogues were ongoing with 86 companies identified in the process. More than half related to suspected human rights violations (60 percent), just under a third to corporate governance (25 percent) and the rest to the environment (15 percent). Most of the company dialogues led to positive outcomes”, says Pia Axelsson.
During 2022, the Council focused its attention intensively and in parallel on day-to-day and strategic activities, with the objective of assessing and refining the Council’s mission, goals, working processes and organisation. The Council’s work is still regarded as highly important to the administrations of all four AP Funds and the Funds agreed to increase the Council’s resources and establish a three-person office.
“Through its strategic development activities, the Council’s reactive work will also, as of 2023, be extended to cover more asset classes. The Council will continue to screen foreign-listed shareholdings and, in addition, Swedish listed shareholdings and credit investments as well. Both directly owned and indirectly owned holdings through fund investments will be screened, with the objective of identifying companies deemed to violate international conventions to which Sweden is a signatory”, says Pia Axelsson.
The full Annual Report 2022, English version, will be available in late March. Read more about the AP-funds’ Council on Ethics here.
For more information, contact:
Pia Axelsson, Chair of the Council on Ethical in 2022: Tel +46 (0)8 786 75 72, e-mail: pia.axelsson@ap4.se
Karoline Hammar, Head of Communications, AP4: Tel: +46 (0)8 786 75 53, e-mail: karoline.hammar@ap4.se
About the AP Funds’ Council on Ethics:
The Council on Ethics is a collaboration between AP Funds 1, 2, 3 and 4, aimed at increasing the leverage to influence companies to pursue sustainable value creation and transparent reporting. The Council works via proactive projects with companies to reduce risk and help bring about positive change in not only complex sustainability challenges but also material systemic risks. The Council also works reactively to ensure that the company takes action when a violation of international conventions has occurred. Read more at etikrådet.se
On March 7-8, AP2 will host the ICGN 2023 Stockholm Conference.
Targeted sustainability reporting and global sustainability reporting standards are becoming more and more in demand. The conference will therefore bring together various regulators and important industry players to convey news and updates. Among different topics the conference will cover the unique characteristics of the Nordic model of corporate governance. Read more at ICGN Stockholm Conference | ICGN
As a partner to the global sustainability award WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award, we can now announce that the recipients of the 2022 award are Gårdsfisk (WIN WIN Award) and the researcher Sara Gutierrez Plata (WIN WIN Youth Award).
Gårdsfisk conducts land-based fish farming with the vision of producing the world’s most sustainable fish. By cultivating new species on land in recirculating systems, Gårdsfisk is a pioneer in the sustainable food system of the future.
Researcher Sara Gutierrez Plata practices sustainable aquaculture by restoring vulnerable coral reefs using the Caribbean king crab, which effectively frees the reefs from suffocating vegetation. Sara Gutierrez Plata exemplifies how sustainable aquaculture must also be considered – as a way to repair and mitigate the harmful effects that human behavior has on nature.
Food production in the world today accounts for just over a quarter of all greenhouse gases and is the primary cause of loss of biodiversity, deforestation and threatened fish stocks. Sustainable aquaculture is part of the solution to the food supply of the future. Therefore, it feels extra important that the WIN WIN Award this year highlights two different innovative aspects of sustainable aquaculture, both of which show the way forward.
The prize will be awarded at the WIN WIN Awards annual gala on October 21 in Gothenburg.
In the first months of the year, Andra AP-fonden (AP2) continued to invest in the climate transition through, among other things, green bonds and bioenergy. The Fund has also drawn up criteria for classifying forest as a climate investment.
The United Nations meeting, Stockholm+50, is taking place this week. The meeting commemorates the 50th anniversary of the first United Nations’ environmental conference, which took place in Stockholm. The ambition of Stockholm+50 is to help speed up the transition to sustainable and green societies.
AP2 is working to develop the portfolio in line with the Paris Agreement and its goal is to have a portfolio with net zero emissions by 2045. In 2020, the Fund developed an index for global equities and corporate bonds in accordance with the criteria for the EU Paris-Aligned Benchmark, which is based on the UN’s climate panel IPCC’s 1.5 degree scenario with limited overshoot.
Creating a low-carbon society requires, among other things, a transition of energy and transport systems. Several of the private equity funds in which AP2 invests focus on companies whose products and services enable resource-efficient solutions. AP2’s investments in green bonds, Swedish cleantech companies, timberland and forestry, and sustainable infrastructure are other examples of investments with sustainable strategies that have a positive climate impact.
“In the first half of the year, AP2 made additional investments in Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, one of the world’s largest developers of sustainable infrastructure. The focus of the investment is on the production of bioenergy by processing advanced waste products from agriculture and forestry, as well as food production, in different ways, in accordance with EU regulations, without affecting land use,” says Eva Halvarsson, CEO of AP2.
AP2 has also made several new investments in green bonds, including in NextGenerationEU, which aims to support economic recovery and build a greener, more digital and more resilient future. During the spring, the Fund also invested in bonds issued by the International Development Association, part of the World Bank, which supports projects and programmes for sustainable development.
In the first half of the year, AP2 has also developed criteria for classifying forest as a climate investment.
“By climate investments we mean investments that, in addition to a good risk-adjusted return, aim to contribute to reduced emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce the effects of climate change. An investment in forests is not automatically beneficial to the climate, but needs to live up to certain criteria in order to be classified as climate investment. We have therefore drawn up ten criteria that AP2 considers to be important from a climate perspective and that our forest investments must live up to in order to be classified as climate investment,” says Eva Halvarsson.
The ten criteria mean, among other things, that managers of timberland assets must have a comprehensive and externally published policy for responsible investments, that timberland assets must be managed in a sustainable manner that is verified by a third party through certification and that all managers of timberland assets integrate TCFD in their reporting. AP2’s managers of timberland assets must also maintain or increase carbon sequestration in the forest and they must actively contribute to maintaining or increasing biodiversity associated with the timberland, in addition to the minimum requirements specified in the conditions of certification and local laws and regulations.
Ulrika Danielson, Head of Communications and Corporate Governance, tel. +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 441,0 billion (31 December 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
The Government has appointed Mikael Bohman and Rikard Andersson as new members of the Board of Directors of AP2. Mikael Bohman has been CEO of Sparbanken Västra Mälardalen since 2005 and has extensive experience from various management positions and board work. Rikard Andersson has more than 20 years of experience in asset management, including as Head of Equities at SEB Investment Management.
The AP Funds’ Council on Ethics sums up a very active 2021and further increases transparency. The annual report presents a more transparent account of the impact dialogues and the milestones achieved.
Eight proactive projects have been conducted to improve sustainability in difficult and vulnerable sectors and 85 reactive company dialogues have been conducted to enable companies to address serious incidents and prevent future incidents.
The Council on Ethics’ 2021 Annual Report describes the joint advocacy work of the AP Funds regarding foreign companies. Collaboration between the AP Funds creates greater weight in the dialogue with the companies and contributes to better investments and sustainable returns in the AP Funds’ portfolios.
Peter Lundkvist, Chairman of the AP Funds’ Council on Ethics in 2021, says:
“It’s important for the Council to be able to present even more transparent reporting on our dialogue work with companies and sectors. The Council’s work is long-term and the impact of advocacy can be difficult to quantify. However, thanks to intensive internal work, we’ve further developed our reporting on the work the Council is doing to improve sustainability work in companies.”
Eight proactive projects in different areas are being run, including one on mining companies, where the Council has, over the course of three years, had a leading role in creating a global and open database. A first global standard has been established for mining tailing dams, and an institute was established in 2021 to ensure that companies adhere to the standard. The work with tech giants on human rights also made progress during the year, with new milestones achieved. In addition, important advocacy projects are under way, including work on anti-corruption and climate change, with a focus on the transition in emissions-intensive sectors.
The Council’s reactive work aims to influence companies to manage and address accidents and incidents if they occur. Around 3 200 holdings in the AP funds’ portfolios have been reviewed. At year-end 2021, the Council had dialogues with 85 companies identified through the screening process as having “confirmed violations” of an international convention or where a “risk of violation” was identified. Of these dialogues, more than half were about suspected human rights violations (60%), a third related to business ethics (27%) and the rest concerned environmental issues (13%).
By influencing companies to take a more systematic approach to sustainability through policies, implementation, and transparency, the Council can help prevent incidents from occurring. 3 056 companies passed the screening process without comment.
In 2021, work was initiated to develop and further strengthen the activities of the Council. A report on this process will be presented in 2022.
The English version of the report will be published beginning of May.
Peter Lundkvist, Chairman of the AP Funds’ Council on Ethics in 2021, telephone: (+46)-709 517 244, info@councilonethics.org or peter.lundkvist@ap3.se
The Council on Ethics works on the basis of the AP Funds (Swedish National Pension Funds) mission to create a high return at low risk to current and future pensioners and on the common value base of proactively striving for sustainable development, acting and setting requirements for transparency and positive change. The Council on Ethics works proactively and reactively with global companies in the portfolios of the AP Funds. The assumption is that well-managed and responsible companies deliver a higher return with lower risk over time. The aim of the Council on Ethics’ work is for companies and industries to work with sustainability systematically and in a structured, transparent manner.
In February 2021, AP2 signed IIGCC’s Paris Aligned Investment Initiative: Net Zero Asset Owners Commitment. IIGCC’s Paris Aligned Investments Initiative is now accredited by the UN Climate Convention as a Race to Zero initiative. This is a global campaign that mobilizes a coalition of leading net zero initiatives with the objective to build momentum around the shift to a decarbonized economy ahead of COP26.
In 2016 AP2 decided to develop its portfolio in line with the Paris Agreement. During 2020 AP2 has had great focus on developing and implementing multi-factor indices for global equities and corporate bonds, in accordance with the criteria for the EU Paris Aligned Benchmark. AP2’s aims is to have a net zero emission portfolio by 2045.
