Carnegie acquires Didner & Gerge Fonder
Earlier this week, Carnegie announced that it is buying Didner & Gerge Fonder. It is part of a widely expected consolidation among Swedish asset managers, partly due to the new structure of the premium pension system moving from an open to a slimmed downed procured platform.
Didner & Gerge Fonder, founded 30 years ago in Uppsala north of Stockholm, was part of a wave of independent asset managers launched around the same time in Sweden. Lannebo Fonder was another. One contributor to the success of these asset managers was the opening up of distribution networks – and not least the launch of the premium pension system in Sweden at the end of the 1990s.
Now that the premium pensions platform is moving from an open to a slimmed downed procured platform, one of the results is a wave of consolidation among Swedish asset managers. At the end of last year, Öhman became the new majority shareholder of Lannebo Fonder and earlier this week Carnegie Holding (Carnegie) announced that it is buying Didner & Gerge Fonder.
In a press release, Carnegie writes that Didner & Gerge has some SEK 55 billion in assets under management, out of which SEK 35 billion are within the premium pension system. It further states that the deal is based on the assets under management outside the premium pension system, with adjustments made depending on upcoming procurements by Fondtorgsnämnden, the new Swedish Fund Selection Agency that is responsible for the investment funds at the premium pension platform.
Provided that the deal is approved, the intention is for the six funds run by Didner & Gerge to be integrated into Carnegie Fonder. Carnegie Fonder was established in 1988 and has some SEK 115 in assets under management. They have 71 employees, out of which 25 work in portfolio management.
// Read more:
Longer interview with Erik Fransson, executive director of the Swedish Fund Selection Agency. Full story here.
