Investors

ATP appoints chief executive

Christian Hyldahl, Nordea’s head of asset management, will take the helm at the Danish pension at the beginning of next year.

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ATP has named Christian Hyldahl as its new chief executive, starting 1 January 2017.

The Danish pension’s current head, Carsten Stendevad, said in August he would step down at the end of the year for family reasons.

Hyldahl will join from Swedish bank Nordea, where he is at the helm of the asset management division. He was promoted to the role in January 2015, after serving as the unit’s chief investment officer for nearly four years.

Jorgen Sondergaard, ATP’s chairman, said Hyldahl had been chosen for his “high integrity” and “great judgement”, as well as for his robust knowledge of international financial markets.

”Our priority has been to recruit a new CEO who can head ATP [at a time when] every institutional investor is facing the challenge of creating returns on investments,” he said.

Under Stendevad’s tenure, ATP has strived to developed its in-house capabilities and boost its direct investment portfolio, as part of what Sondergaard described as its “tremendous” contribution to reshaping the institution’s investment strategy.

ATP, Denmark’s biggest pension fund and Europe’s fourth-largest, manages about DKr824 billion ($121 billion; €111 billion).