Finnish earnings-related pension provider, Elo, returned close to €1bn in the first quarter of 2021, it has revealed.

This was equivalent to 3.9 per cent (€996.4m) a drastic improvement from the -9.5 per cent in the same period last year, when the pandemic outbreak saw its first peak.

The market value of the investments was €26.8bn at the end of March. The solvency ratio was 125.0 per cent and the solvency capital was 1.5 times the solvency limit.

Commenting on the results, Elo president and CEO, Hanna Hiidenpalo, said: “Despite the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, global economic growth expectations rose in the first quarter of the year and the positive mood was also reflected in the stock market. Investment income was at a good level at the beginning of the year and our solvency strengthened from the turn of the year.”

In regards to investments, Hiidenpalo said the large-scale recovery of the US economy had a significant impact on investment market movements at the beginning of the year.

“Expectations that inflation will accelerate and interest rates will continue to rise have affected the differences in returns between asset classes,” Hiidenpalo said.

Returns on almost all asset classes were positive, with only fixed-income investments remaining slightly negative. Elo's equity investments returned 7.8 (-17.4) per cent, fixed-income investments -0.3 (-2.9) per cent, real estate investments 0.9 (1.0) per cent and other investments 3.5 (-3.8) per cent. The result of investment operations at fair value was €416.3m (-1,752m).

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