Equities have provided positive returns for Danish pension scheme LD Pensions so far in 2019 after several months of negative numbers, the fund said.

LD’s Danish stocks saw a 6.2% increase, while global stocks increased by 7.4%. The biggest growth in the past month has however been its ESG portfolio, which rose by 8.0%.

Its ESG portfolio saw a negative 12 months, as did the Danish and global equity portfolios, but LD’s investments in environmental and climate-friendly companies have grown by 14% over the past 36 months.

The fund said in a statement the financial instability in 2018 caused losses but that the results over the past years are still positive and that 2017 was a very good year across all portfolios.

“Even if LD reduced the equity exposure at the beginning of the year, ending the year with losses in the equity portfolios and the LD Vælger fund was inevitable. The beginning of 2019 is instantly looking a lot more positive but there are still a lot of uncertainty, and the mood could turn quickly,” LD said.

Danish shares fell due to a combination of overestimating businesses and their performance and the money laundering scandal surrounding Danske Bank’s Estonian branch. Over the past 36 months, LD’s Danish equity portfolio has lost 2.5%.

The global portfolio has seen an 11.2% increase over the past 36 months. The fund said the global economy is still balancing between growth and recession.

“Growth often means good returns on stocks, but recessions often leads to losses. It is the uncertainty around the future development that has affected the markets,” LD said.

Its fixed income portfolios of short and mixed bonds have both provided positive numbers over both the long and short term, and grew 0.1% and 0.4% in the past month. Most external pools which LD have invested in have returned positive as well.

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