Swedish pension fund chairman Alekta resigns in a week By: Reuters

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – The Swedish Pension Fund said on Sunday Alekta Chairman Karina Åkerström had resigned after just a week in the role, adding that it had brought back a former interim chairman.

Alekta announced that it will bring back Jan-Olof Jacke, who was appointed interim chairman in November 2023 when the previous chairman resigned.

“We are disappointed that Karina Akerström has changed her assessment of her ability to fulfill her duties as Chair of the Alekta Board and has chosen to resign,” said Kenneth Bengtsson, Chairman of the Nominating Committee.

Alekta, Sweden’s largest pension fund, did not give a reason for Akerström’s resignation, but said there was no conflict of interest that could not be dealt with in the normal way.

Akerstrom did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This is the second nomination for chair that did not go as planned, after the nominating committee had to withdraw its proposal for former Danish central bank chief Lars Rode in January over conflict of interest concerns. .

The committee said it had learned that Mr. Rohde was planning to take up a directorship at another company and that Mr. Akerström would be appointed in his place.

Before taking up his post as chairman of Alekta, Mr. Akerström was chief executive of Svenska Handelsbanken, which he resigned from last year.

Alekta has been the subject of two ongoing investigations by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) over its risk-taking over the past year.

The pension fund has been criticized not only for its investments in failed US banks First Republic, Silicon Valley and Signature, but also for its large investment in heavily indebted real estate group Heimstaden Bostad.