Last year, the First AP Fund, manager of over 400 billion kronor of the Swedish pension system's money, like many others, benefited from the strong development on the American stock exchanges, while Stockholm and Europe performed worse.
So far this year, that trend has been broken. And it's not temporary, believes Kristin Magnusson Bernard.
Up ten percent
But Stockholm is already up nearly ten percent, an approximate average increase over a year seen over time. But it's not too late to jump on, according to her.
At the same time, we know that the Stockholm stock exchange is more cyclical. Last year was a bit weak in a historical perspective. And then there may very well be more to gain.
Several factors speak in favor of this. Foreigners are finding their way back to the Stockholm stock exchange, it's relatively cheap for them to buy Swedish shares now. And the valuations of Swedish companies are relatively lower than on other exchanges.
If I look at where the valuations are compared to all the value created in the companies, for example. You shouldn't become too pessimistic, but you need to sift through the noise a bit, says Kristin Magnusson Bernard.
Foreign inflow
Thus, foreign capital may flow into Sweden to a greater extent, which strengthens the krona, she predicts.
This is also supported by the fact that you can probably expect the Swedish Central Bank to have a higher interest rate than, for example, the ECB. So you can get both a stronger krona against the euro and a fine development on the Stockholm stock exchange, says Magnusson Bernard.
Individual investments, then, such as the defense industry?
The stance, which we have had for a long time, is that a defense is necessary for peaceful development and justice, says the fund manager.
The stance has not changed.
The First AP Fund is a major owner in, for example, Saab. And going forward, there may be more defense-related companies to invest more in, according to Magnusson Bernard.
This is a sector in growth, so of course, there will be many new opportunities. And not least, you can say that the European defense industry is feeling the morning air in a way that we haven't seen in a very long time.
The First AP Fund has managed capital of nearly 500 billion kronor.
The pension system has, via the six different AP funds, a total buffer capital of around 2,000 billion kronor.
The government has proposed that several of the funds be merged.
