At the beginning of 2026, the transfer of assets from the First AP Fund to the Third and Fourth AP Funds was carried out. The transfer was made in light of the consolidation of the AP Funds that the Riksdag decided on in 2025 and which came into effect on 1 January 2026.
At the end of the year, a total of approximately SEK 510 billion worth of listed and unlisted assets were transferred from the First AP Fund to the Third and Fourth AP Funds. This corresponds to just over 98 percent of the First AP Fund’s total assets at the end of the year. The transfer was made in equal parts to the Third and Fourth AP Funds.
Staffan Hansén and Niklas Ekvall, CEOs of the Third and Fourth AP Funds respectively:
“The intensive and extensive consolidation work that was prepared in 2025 and has now been carried out by the three AP funds has been challenging but very successful. We are very proud that we, in cooperation with the special investigator appointed by the government, have managed to carry out the consolidation so successfully and in such a short time.”
The consolidation could be prepared and implemented in parallel with a maintained focus on the core business, to manage the fund capital for the greatest benefit to the pension system. In addition, the consolidation has been implemented in a cost-effective manner for the pension system, which means that already from 2027 onwards, savings are expected to amount to SEK 150-200 million annually.
Less than 2 percent of the fund capital was not transferred and remains in the First AP Fund. The Fourth AP Fund will manage these assets separately for the greatest benefit to the pension system. When possible and appropriate, these separate assets will be transferred in equal parts to the Third and Fourth AP Funds.
The segregated assets consist mainly of unlisted funds, for which it has not been deemed cost-effective or otherwise beneficial to the pension system to transfer these assets to the Third and Fourth AP Funds. Certain shares, of a very limited value, that are under sanction or delisted cannot be transferred but also remain in the segregated management.
The focus of the consolidation work has been to ensure an orderly and responsible handover from the First AP Fund to the Third and Fourth AP Funds. This has been carried out together with the government’s appointed special investigator, the AP Funds’ auditor and the Ministry of Finance. During the winding-up period in 2025, the First AP Fund has continued to conduct its day-to-day management activities as an independent authority.
The Third and Fourth AP Funds would like to thank the First AP Fund and its employees for their cooperation in 2025 in implementing the consolidation in a responsible manner. The Third and Fourth AP Funds’ mission is to manage the assets now transferred from the First AP Fund in the best possible way for today’s and tomorrow’s Swedish pensioners.
Background to the consolidation
In 2025, the Riksdag decided on changes to the management of the buffer capital in the AP funds. The decision means, among other things, that the three Stockholm-based buffer funds will be consolidated into two by transferring the assets and liabilities of the First AP Fund to the Third and Fourth AP Funds, respectively, while at the same time transferring the assets and liabilities of the Gothenburg-based Sixth AP Fund to the Second AP Fund. The legislative changes came into force on 1 January 2026.
About the Third and Fourth AP Funds
The Third and Fourth AP Funds are buffer funds within the Swedish public pension system. As of June 30, 2025, the two funds managed just over SEK 1,100 billion, which increased to just over SEK 1,600 billion after the consolidation that came into effect on January 1, 2026.
The buffer funds have been mandated by the Riksdag to manage the fund capital to the greatest possible benefit for the pension system by creating a high return at a low level of risk in an exemplary manner. The goal is that today’s and tomorrow’s pensioners benefit from the AP funds contributing to a robust pension system.
In 2025, the Third and Fourth AP Funds have jointly implemented new portfolio system support, which means that the funds are equipped to take on even larger managed capital to manage for the greatest benefit to today’s and tomorrow’s Swedish pensioners.
The three AP Funds’ annual reports for 2025 will be published on February 20 for the First and Fourth AP Funds, and on March 6 for the Third AP Fund.
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