Danish Pension Group Proposes 56 ‘Concrete’ Initiatives to Ease Financial Regulations

Committee is curious about more opportunities in digital regulation.

The  CEO of the Danish pension industry group is backing proposals to relax financial regulations as part of a government-wide overhaul.

“Since the financial crisis, we have seen a massive amount of regulation in the insurance and pension industry,” said Per Bremer Rasmussen, CEO of Insurance & Pension Denmark, who added that said regulations have been an “extensive and costly” process which has allowed his group to make some suggestions on how to simplify them..

Rasmussen’s team is recommending the implementation of 56 “concrete” initiatives. Key areas the proposals center on are direct European regulation and the Danish implementation of European regulation. Other concerns are proposals regarding national special rules and the supervision of the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, the financial regulatory power of Denmark’s financial markets.

Under these proposals, the group determined that businesses could save up to DKK300 million ($48.6 million) per year, even though there are still some proposals with unmeasured savings.  

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The committee said it has also looked at more digital approaches toward regulation and how society and financial companies can benefit.

“I am particularly pleased that it is possible to use digital solutions in greater detail and focus more on providing insurance products that meet consumer expectations for digital insurance products,” Rasmussen said in a statement.

Insurance & Pension Denmark’s findings will be included in an upcoming revision and modernization of the country’s Financial Business Act, the group said.

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Despite a 1.5% Loss, Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Still Beats Q1 Benchmark

Negative returns triggered by increasing uncertainty as well as volatility in global equities markets.

The international stock selloff may have caused Norway’s trillion dollar Government Pension Fund Global to lose more than $20 billion in the first quarter, but the massive sovereign wealth fund still outperformed its benchmark.

According to the Q1 report from the fund’s manager, Norges Bank Investment Management, returns generating a 1.5% loss of value were brought on by “increased volatility in global stock markets,” the fund said. Inflation had also risen due to increased US wage growth as well as expectations of rapidly rising interest rates, which then brought on fears of increased protectionism.

“The most important expression of the risk in the fund is that the strategic equity share is set to 70%,” Yngve Slyngstad, CEO of Norges Bank, said in a statement. “This means that fluctuations in the fund’s value are predominantly determined by the development in global stock markets.”

The negative returns came from equities and fixed income investments at -2.2% and -0.4%, respectively. Unlisted real estate investments picked up the slack, raking in a positive 2.5% for the fund, which covers the retirement benefits of the entire country.

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Despite this hiccup, the fund’s lackluster returns were still 10 basis points higher than its benchmark, leaving the Norwegian pension fund’s value above $1 trillion.

As of March 31, 66.2% of the entities’ portfolio was invested in equities, 2.7% percent in unlisted real estate, and 31.2% in fixed income.

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