ATP Brings Low-Cost Pension Alternative to the UK

(February 2, 2011) — ATP, the Danish national pension fund, has hired Nigel Waterson, a former UK Conservative MP and pensions expert, to advise them on their launch into the UK market, providing an alternative to the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST).

ATP head of international operations Morten Nilsson told Professional Pensions: “We are very happy Nigel has decided to work with us in the UK. We are planning on establishing a different option [to NEST] and Nigel is a good guy to help us get that right – he has a perfect profile for us,” he said, adding that ATP hoped to be fully operational in the UK by the end of the year, with the product similar to ATP’s low-cost range in Denmark.

The fund’s move to launch a product in the UK comes after a report by Hermes Focus Asset Management chairman David Pitt-Watson called for a limited number of private sector pension providers to become “approved default providers” like NEST, Money Marketing reported. According to Nilson, ATP is planning on launching a UK savings product ahead of upcoming regulatory reforms — from 2012, all UK companies will be obliged to offer their workers a pension scheme, into which they will be automatically enrolled by law.

ATP released its financial results this morning, with the fund returning $4.2 billion during 2010 on total assets of around $88 billion, posting a profit of $943 million, ATP press adviser Anne Schumache told aiCIO. “The net profit for the year is highly satisfactory. ATP is already factoring in the expected future rise in Danish life expectancy. Following the strengthening of provisions, ATP will be better able to ensure the long-term purchasing power of pensions. This also increases our possibility of raising ATP pensions for all current and future pensioners within a few years,” Lars Rohde, ATP CEO, said in a statement.