P+ publishes on its website:
P+’s new chairman, Lars Bo Bertram, has 40 years of experience from the financial sector. And a solid insight into ESG.
Lars Bo Bertram is looking forward to starting work at P+, whose new board will be established at the beginning of May. He is quite impatient by nature, explains the new chairman, who in a month and a half will also change his job as CEO of BankInvest to the position of CEO of the state-owned investment fund IFU (Investeringsfonden for Udviklingslande).
Lars Bo Bertram has been a member of the Financial Association’s board for 20 years, the last six years as chairman. He has just over nine years as CEO of BankInvest behind him, and before that more than 13 years at Nykredit and 15 years at Danske Bank. For more than six years, Lars Bo Bertram has also been busy with board work for SOS Children’s Villages and for just over seven years a member of the board of the HR Foundation.
The work in SOS Children’s Villages and other aid funds has led to visits to many developing countries, and when he got the offer from IFU, he accepted a job where he can combine work with both sustainability and developing economies. Around the same time, the offer for the position of chairman in P+ landed, he explains.
Advocate for active ownership
“I think a lot about the sustainable agenda. You have to be very aware of what you are cutting when working with ESG. I am very much in favor of active ownership, where you have a light on the individual company. I think we can get even better at that task. As investors, we are co-owners of the companies, and you really have to consider who you sell them to if you sell off,” he says.
The work with ESG is becoming increasingly complex, adds Lars Bo Bertram.
“There are more and more tools and more and more regulation that you have to understand and deal with,” he says.
An issue is rarely black and white.
The new chairman emphasizes the work with the investment profile P+ Sustainable, which was launched two years ago.
“P+ is the only labor market pension fund that has created a savings product with an extra strong focus on sustainability. It is really positive that P+ has launched P+ Sustainable for those members who want that direction. But I also see that there are many members who do not choose that profile,” states Lars Bo Bertram.
He adds that he would like to emphasize the importance of the board representing the various interests of the members.
“A problem is very rarely black and white. As the board of a member-owned pension fund with more than 114,000 members, we therefore have an important task in laying down a line that reflects the great professionalism and breadth of the membership,” he says.
Pensions must be made more relevant
Lars Bo Bertram is quite clear that pensions are for many an area of low interest. P+ must work to make it more relevant.
“I believe that P+ should be the academics’ natural choice. Both when it comes to pensions and health. First of all, of course, we must ensure a competitive return and a reasonable cost level, but we must also work to make the member experience even better. We must have higher member satisfaction. And we must work to link the members closer to P+ – including the many who are struggling with a long-term sick leave, whom we may be able to help back into work,” says the new chairman.
About Lars Bo Bertram
Lars Bo Bertram grew up in Skødstrup outside Århus and started his long career in the financial sector as a banking apprentice at Aktivbanken in Århus. He is married to Birgitte, who works at Nykredit. They live in Frederiksberg, and together they have three adult children.
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