The Seventh AP Fund, also called the Soffliggar Fund because it is an alternative for pension savers who have not made an active premium pension choice, is a global index fund with nearly 70 percent of its assets invested in North American companies.
The large exposure to the US has meant that the fund has lost around 20 percent of its value during the recent stock market downturn, equivalent to around 270 billion kronor.
No Coincidence
Despite the stock market slump affecting the fund, CEO Lena Fahlén says it was not a mistake to have such a large exposure to the US.
It is, after all, the world's largest financial market and it has been extremely well-functioning. It is no coincidence that we have many investments there, she says.
According to Fahlén, no changes will be made to the fund's investments in the near future.
But if this continues, I think you have to think about how you should view it.
New Rules
Lena Fahlén says we may be facing a new world order where previous rules may no longer apply.
We have, since World War II, lived in a rule-based world order. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and China joined the World Trade Organization WTO in 2001, we got a globalization that has been very good for both companies and countries. The increased global trade has also lifted many out of poverty. It has been something good that we have grown accustomed to, she says and continues:
And if a rule-based world order is no longer applicable, then we need to adapt to it.
The capital management CEO believes that the greatest threat to the global economy may not be the various tariffs themselves. Instead, it is the unpredictability and uncertainty created by US President Donald Trump.
In the long term, it is very unfortunate. All companies want predictability, regardless of whether you like the decisions or not, you want to know what applies. And that clarity, we do not see from the American administration today, and I am unsure if it will change as long as we have this leadership in the White House.
