Allocator' s Corner Podcast

Johanna Strömsten is PM International Real Assets at Alecta and is responsible for real estate and infrastructure investments, which is a growing part of the Alecta portfolio that today has an AuM of 970 billion Swedish Krona. In this episode we discussed Alecta's transition from listed to unlisted assets, the investment management organization, risk and return targets, portfolio construction and rebalancing, COVID-19 and experiences drawn from a portfolio perspective, sustainability and challenges for the portfolio going forward.

In the third episode of Allocator's Corner, I had the opportunity to sit down with Helen Idenstedt who is portfolio manager idiosyncratic alternative investments at the first Swedish national pension fund - AP1. The role of the portfolio that Helen runs is to serve as a diversified source of alpha within the broader AP1 mandate – a mandate that currently has around 350 billion SEK in assets under management. During the session, we discussed how to manage so-called idiosyncratic risk using alternative investment strategies, the process behind her manager selection, what the portfolio looks like today and how ESG has received increased attention in the alternatives space as of late. We also had the chance to discuss a new mandate linked to private debt strategies that Helen has just started allocating assets to.

In this episode I had the opportunity to talk to Jonas Thulin, the head of asset management at Erik Penser Bank. Jonas is an economist by training and joined Penser in 2017.  At Erik Penser, Jonas is responsible for the management of the bank’s discretionary mandates which consists of a number of tailor made portfolios. He also runs a couple of funds that are based on the same allocation strategies as within the tailored mandates. Jonas says he runs a very active strategy where the bank’s so-called house view is challenged more or less every day. Unlike many of his industry peers, he is very vocal about his market view, which currently suggests that there is more room to run for equities, despite the long bull run that has been driving prices higher for the last ten years.  

In this first episode of Allocator’s Corner, fund marketing guru Anders Bladh came to visit the show. Anders founded his company Intervalor in 1992 with the vision to help international fund companies building their presence in the Nordics. Over the years, Intervalor has promoted a number of large and smaller niche fund managers and successfully supported their asset raising activities in the region. Today, the company has local representatives in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway and has built an exceptionally strong network of institutional asset allocators who they meet on a regular basis.