The State Pension Fund of Finland Increases Investments in the Commercial Paper Markets

Published 2020-03-19 at 15:29


The State Pension Fund of Finland (VER) has started additional investments on commercial paper markets. VER’s investments to commercial papers will be increased at most to one billion euros depending on the market situation. VER continues to direct investments to companies which possess low credit risk and investments are done on market terms.

  • CEO, Timo Löyttyniemi, explains: “VER has started to increase its investments on commercial papers in Finland. In mid-March VER had approximately EUR 150 million worth of commercial papers in its portfolio. The number of commercial papers will be increased at most to one billion euros depending on the market situation. The additional investments will be launched gradually during the next few months.”

By the end of 2019, the total investments in VER’s portfolio reached EUR 20.6 billion, of which EUR 7.7 billion were fixed income investments.

Commercial papers are bonds issued by companies for less than a year. Over the past year, the size of the commercial paper market in Finland has fluctuated between just under EUR 4 billion and just under EUR 6 billion. The maximum commercial paper investment amount planned by VER will correspond to approximately 17-25% of the current total market should it be realised.

On Monday 16 March 2020, the state published its procedures to promote corporate financing. Increasing VER’s investments in the commercial paper markets is a part of this package.

 

Established in 1990, the State Pension Fund (VER) is an off-budget pension investment fund for covering future pension liabilities and balancing pension expenditure. The Fund is an investment organisation whose tasks include managing assets entrusted to it over the long term and ensuring that investments are secure, deliver a high return and can be converted into cash, while being appropriately diversified.

www.ver.fi

Further information:

Please contact CEO Timo Löyttyniemi, firstname.lastname@ver.fi, tel +358 295 201 210.