Pædagogernes Pension (PBU) announced it is investing in a fund launched last autumn by a Danish state agency, which focuses on promoting green and social development in developing countries.

PBU, the DKK100bn (€13.4bn) Danish pension fund for early childhood teachers, said it was investing DKK200m in the Danish SDG Investment Fund II, launched in November 2024 by IFU, Investment Fund for Developing Countries, and anchored by four Danish pension funds – PFA, PKA, P+ and PenSam.

Sune Schackenfeldt, PBU’s chief executive officer, said: “The SDG Fund II is an investment that not only ensures solid returns, but also contributes to a more just and sustainable world.”

For the Copenhagen-based pension fund’s more than 125,000 members, he said, it was important the institution worked actively through investment to foster equality and improved social conditions, both in Denmark and globally.

IFU, which has recently changed its name to Impact Fund Denmark, said the fund focused on private sector investments in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and aimed to promote the green transition, improve social conditions while generating attractive returns.

The fund is to contribute to UN Sustainable Development Goals numbers five, eight, 10 and 13 in particular, covering gender equality, decent jobs, reducing inequality and climate action, with sectoral investments having an impact on other SDGs too, Impact Fund Denmark said.

It said today that the fund’s total capital commitment was DKK3bn, which compares to the DKK2.7bn total commitment stated in November after the anchor investments – consisting of DKK400m from each of the four pension funds and DKK1.066bn from the state agency.

Lars Bo Bertram, CEO of Impact Fund Denmark, said: “Private investors are often reluctant to invest in developing countries due to the higher risk, but with the Danish SDG Investment Fund II we have developed a model that creates attractive investment opportunities on a large scale.”

The fund – which aims to have raised DKK5bn in total by the end of 2025 – had a “well-thought-out” distribution of risk and return, he said, and an EU loss guarantee.

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Rachel is IPE's Nordic correspondent. She has long been a freelance writer, and over the years, has written for The Telegraph, The Independent, The Observer, AMWatch and elsewhere. In 2001, Rachel's personal finance book Kickstart Your Money was published by John Wiley & Sons.View full Profile

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