Return on investments of the State Pension Fund of Finland 7.7% in 2023; ten-year average return 5.4%

Press release 16 February 2024

The market value weighted return on the investments made by the State Pension Fund (VER) reached 7.7 per cent in 2023 (-6.8 per cent in 2022). The real rate of return was 4.0 per cent (-14.6 per cent). 

VER primarily seeks a long-term return sufficient to finance the state pension system. VER’s average nominal rate of return over the past ten years is 5.4 per cent and real return 3.3 per cent. The average nominal five-year return is 6.4 per cent and real return 2.9 per cent.

At the end of 2023, the market value of the VER’s assets amounted to EUR 22.8 billion (EUR 21.6 billion in 2022). Of all the investments, fixed income instruments accounted for 40.3 per cent, equities 53.3 per cent and other investments 8.0 per cent of the total. The rest of the effect of risk-adjusted allocation was due to derivatives.

VER’s two large asset classes, liquid fixed income investments and listed equities, gave positive returns in 2023. The return on liquid fixed income instruments was 6.9 per cent and that of listed equities 11.3 per cent. Of the other asset classes, the best performance was put in by private credit funds at 8.5 per cent and other fixed income investments at 7.9 per cent.

“The investment markets made a successful recovery from the previous year's slump. The expectations of a relaxation of monetary policy boosted returns in the last quarter.  VER's long-term returns have remained at a sound level,” says CEO  Timo Löyttyniemi.

“The strong recovery of the stock markets was driven by positive corporate earnings performance, although there are signs of a slowdown in economic growth. In the global context, US technology companies are outperforming other companies. Geopolitical and economic uncertainties are clouding the current positive mood in the markets, Löyttyniemi says.

“VER’s net contributions to the government budget will increase in the future as a result of the amendment to the Act on the State Pension Fund and rising pension expenditure. Now the net transfer to the government budget was 2 per cent of the Fund’s assets, but it is expected to increase to 4–5 per cent in the coming years. These factors will limit the Fund's growth in the future and create new investment challenges," says Löyttyniemi.

In 2023, VER received approximately EUR 1.7 billion in pension contribution income and transferred some EUR 2.1 billion to the government budget. In 2024, VER is required to contribute an amount equivalent to 41 per cent of the State’s annual pension expenditure to the government budget. The amounts to be transferred will continue to increase with the growing pension expenditure.

At the end of 2023, the pension liabilities under the state pension system amounted to EUR 101.0 billion. The funding ratio was 22.7 per cent. The Financial Statements will be adopted by the Ministry of Finance in April 2024.

The Annual Report of the State Pension Fund is available at www.ver.fi.

Additional information: VER’s CEO Timo Löyttyniemi, firstname.lastname@ver.fi, tel.: +358 (0)295 201 210.