PFA’s mutual fund wins international acclaim from research company

Ian Jacques Valsted (left), Senior Portfolio Manager, and Erik Simoni Mortensen, Portfolio Manager, from PFA Asset Management.

The international research company Morningstar has recently given a five-star rating to the mutual fund Investeringsforeningen PFA Invest for its products Balance B and Globale Aktier, which are both offered by PFA Bank.

The top rating illustrates that PFA’s investment department, Asset Management, is able to create strong returns on both pension savings and available funds. So Christian Lindstrøm Lage, Director in PFA Asset Management, which manages investments on behalf of PFA Invest and PFA Pension, explains.

“It is important to the customers of PFA Bank and PFA Invest that we can offer products with such high marks compared to our competitors. It illustrates that our customers have invested their money in well-managed products that yield some of the best returns within the industry. It is the same team that is behind both PFA Asset Management and PFA Invest, which means that this rating is a seal of approval of our investment competencies in relation to our pension customers as well as our customers with available funds,” Christian Lindstrøm Lage says.

He emphasises that the investment community means a number of economies of scale in relation to returns as well as expenses, which is for the benefit of the customers of PFA Invest and PFA Pension.

 

Large European survey grants 5 stars to PFA’s mutual fund

This is the first time PFA Invest is included in Morningstar’s survey, which compares a large selection of mutual funds. PFA Invest Balance B has been compared with 488 moderate-risk funds across Europe, and PFA Invest Globale Aktier was up against 2609 share investment funds from all across the world. Both funds rank among the top 10 per cent, which trigger five stars. Both are investment products for private and corporate customers who want the investment of their long-term savings managed professionally.

It illustrates that our customers have invested their money in well-managed products that yield some of the best returns within the industry. It is the same team that is behind both PFA Asset Management and PFA Invest , which means that this rating is a seal of approval of our investment competencies in relation to our pension customers as well as our customers with available funds

Ian Jacques Valsted, Senior Portfolio Manager, and Erik Simoni Mortensen, Portfolio Manager, both from PFA Asset Management are responsible for PFA Invest’s balanced funds (including Balance B) and PFA Invest Globale Aktier respectively. They are very pleased with the result, but also acknowledge that a lot of hard work lies ahead in order to keep up the good result.

“A strong return is pivotal to our customers. Seen over a longer period of time and taking compound interest into account, the size of their return makes a significant difference to the customer. Therefore, we are very pleased that the two funds have scored top marks in a European survey with 2,500 different funds. The results are rooted in an active management strategy, including a successful market approach. This has resulted in the stable long-term return. In future, the investment markets pose several challenges, but we are ready to exploit the possibilities that emerge, Ian Jacques Valsted and Erik Simoni Mortensen say.

Morningstar’s analysis especially focuses on the risk-adjusted return and the expenses in each of the mutual funds included in the analysis. A risk-adjusted return means that the risk you accept as a customer and the realistically achievable gains must be balanced. According to the survey carried out by Morningstar, PFA Invest Globale Aktier and Balance B have excelled within these areas.

PFA Bank can help you with your investments

Both the share investment fund Globale Aktier and the so-called balanced fund (which includes both shares and bonds) Balance B are sold through PFA Bank. This is the pension company PFA’s offer to those who would like to supplement their pension savings with investing some of their available funds. PFA Bank is intended as a supplement to a traditional bank and offers both a credit card account and investments in shares, bonds and mutual fund certificates listed on Nasdaq OMX Copenhagen. Among other things, you can, through the bank, buy into Investeringsforeningen PFA Invest, where you can choose between ten funds.

“With the balance products in PFA Invest, customers benefit from the investment universe offered in PFA Plus, which is a market rate pension product. Investing in both shares and bonds makes it possible to diversify the risk and thus optimise the possibility of a stable return. The balance products give you access to the full range of PFA’s investment competencies, and this makes it a product that it would be very difficult to compose as a private investor,” Ian Jacques Valsted explains.

Globale Aktier includes a mix of shares from across the world and Balance B is a combination of 55 per cent shares and 45 per cent bonds. The latter offers a combination of high and low-risk investments, which makes it quite flexible. On the other hand, the fund Globale Aktier offers a very diverse mix of international shares.

“At present, PFA Invest Globale Aktier offers 60-70 different shares, a well-diversified portfolio and moderate risk. At the moment, the investment risks we take is below what our guidelines allow for. Still, we generate strong returns compared to other market players. Share prices have fluctuated drastically, but, as shown by Morningstar's survey, money invested in PFA Invest Globale Aktier has yielded a strong return over the past three years,” Erik Simoni Mortensen says.

The share pricing is still reasonable; and credit bonds, for instance, still generate returns. However, in future, it will be difficult to match the returns of recent years, the two investment experts caution.

About Morningstar

Morningstar was founded in Chicago in 1984 and is one of the most recognised international research companies. Worldwide, it serves 6.5 million private investors, 260,000 financial advisers and 3,300 institutional clients. Every month, Morningstar publishes a survey of European mutual funds. The survey is based on the funds’ performance over the last three years. This is the first time PFA Invest is included in the survey as the fund is quite new.

Facts

  • Like investment profiles A, B, C and D in PFA Plus, which is a market rate pension product, PFA Invest Balance B is a so-called balanced product that consists of a mix of shares and bonds. Over the last three years, the fund has yielded an accumulated return of 47.6 per cent.
  • In Globale Aktier, the portfolio is mainly made up of shares from across the world - the majority is large, listed companies. Over the last three years, the fund has yielded an accumulated return of 81.8 per cent.
  • PFA Invest Balance A and C are yet to be included in Morningstar’s survey as this requires three years of data, and the two funds were not established until January 2014 and May 2015 respectively.