(Bloomberg) — Denmark’s biggest pension fund, with about $120 billion in assets under management, may end up handling even more money as a result of plans to make retirement savings obligatory for the unemployed and others receiving government support. Under the proposal in parliament, funds currently allocated for social, health and labor programs will be rerouted to ATP, the state-backed pension fund to which all working Danes must contribute. if passed, the proposal would raise annual net payments into ATP by as much as 4 billion kroner ($605 million) by 2030, according to Bo Foged, ATP’s interim chief executive officer. Contributions last year totaled 9.87 billion kroner.
The new monies would improve ATP’s economies of scale and lower costs, a key goal as volatile markets and record low rates make returns harder to get. The pension fund on Wednesday sold its U.K. business, NOW: Pensions, after reporting last week a loss of 3.7 billion kroner on its investment portfolio.
