Just days after Silicon Valley Bank failed, the CEO of Sweden’s largest pension fund said the company had made a mistake investing in some U.S. banks. “Obviously with what’s happened,” Alecta CEO Magnus Billing told Bloomberg in March, “we think that it’s a big failure for us as an investor, and we need to learn something from that and take actions based upon the lessons learned.” Weeks later, Alecta’s board agreed with Billing, firing him today “with immediate effect.” The mistake was, of course, a nearly $2 billion loss on both Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, two of the three largest banking failures in U.S. history. Not only that, but Billing had also invested in First Republic Bank, which itself had a near-death experience.
Alecta, the occupational pension fund, manages about $115 billion in assets, and it’s looking to shore up investor faith with Billing’s firing. “The losses have seriously damaged confidence in Alecta's asset management,” the group said in an official statement. “The board has now come to the conclusion that Alecta needs new leadership to implement the necessary changes in asset management and restore trust.”
Alecta began buying up shares in the three American banks in 2017 and increased its holdings in the following years. By 2022, Alecta was the fourth-largest shareholder of SVB’s parent company, sixth-largest at Signature, and the fifth-largest at First Republic.
The Swedish pension fund’s board appointed deputy CEO Katarina Thorslund as interim chief until a permanent replacement is appointed.
