New Danish Pension Boss: Ready to Face the Challenge

(December 13, 2012) — Carsten Stendevad is to join ATP early next year and replace Lars Rohde, who will take up the chairmanship of the Danish National Bank after almost 15 years at the fund.

“As a Dane, to get this opportunity is unique,” Stendevad told aiCIO about an hour after his appointment was announced to the world’s media. “It is the largest and one of the best performing funds in the world—Lars and the team have done a great job.”

Over the last financially tumultuous decade, the fund has made more than 10% per year on average and while maintaining full solvency. This is due to a series of hedging strategies and investment policies that involve risk “buckets” rather than traditional asset allocation.

The DKK600 billion ($105 billion) fund provides retirement income to over 4.7 million Danes—something that is not lost on the incoming CEO.

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“It is a big responsibility,” he said. “I am humbled. It is going to be a challenging job, but it is an important mission—ATP plays a very important role.”

This is why after 10 years at global bank Citigroup, most recently in New York City, the Dane is heading home. “The team is renowned for being very strong and having a very strong track record,” he said. “It is also a big international player—I have global experience and will draw on that.”

Stendevad was one of the architects and main constructors of Citigroup’s current corporate advisory structure. Working with large corporations, financial institutions and sovereign wealth funds, he gave insight, advice and helped these clients analyse the risks of the markets in which they played.

Before joining Citigroup, he worked at consulting firm McKinsey & Co. after starting his career at the Danish Central Bank—where his predecessor is soon heading to take charge.

He will start at ATP no later than May 2013. CIO Henrik Gade Jepsen will oversee the CEO role in the interim.

(December 13, 2012) — ATP, the Danish national pension fund, has named a former Citigroup banker as its new CEO to replace Lars Rohde, who will become chairman of the nation’s central bank in February.

Carsten Stendevad, 39, has been with the global bank since 2002 and most recently was global head of the financial strategy group in New York. He will join ATP no later than May next year, a spokesman for ATP said, with CIO Henrik Gade Jepsen acting as CEO in the interim.

Stendevad is a graduate in economics and has a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

He began his career at the Central Bank of Denmark. He was born in the country, but grew up in Belgium. He is fluent in Danish, French, has conversational German and basic Hindi.

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Prior to Citi, Stendevad worked for consultants McKinsey & Co., based in New York and Copenhagen, advising bulge bracket investment banks on growth strategies and operational restructurings, the bank’s website says. He also helped establish McKinsey’s International Development Practice and advised, among others, the United Nations.

“In many ways, Carsten Stendevad is the natural heir to Lars Rohde, who has done a fantastic job at ATP,” chairman of the ATP Supervisory Board Jørgen Søndergaard said. He added that it was essential to find a new CEO who could lead ATP from its current strong platform and take it to the next level.

Stendevad joins ATP as the fund flies high on world-beating investment returns and sophisticated hedging strategies.

The fund made DKK41.2 billion ($7.1 billion) in the third quarter of this year, which was equivalent to a 7% return, despite difficult economic conditions. Last year, the fund made 20%. This followed an impressive five-year run: In 2005, ATP made investment returns of just over 6%, in 2006 around 4.2%, and in 2007, 2%. A 6% loss in 2008 was followed up by a return of 4.3% in 2009 and 6.8% in 2010.

In November, both Rohde and Jepsen were named on aiCIO’s inaugural Power 100 list. Anders Hjælmsø Svennesen, associate director in investment allocation across risk categories, was named on our inaugural Forty under Forty of the brightest prospects in institutional investment.

The fund was also nominated for aiCIO‘s Industry Innovation Awards 2012.