Finnish pension company Keva returned 5.8 per cent on its investments last year, amounting to €4.1bn.

Listed equities drove the positive performance with a return of 13.1 per cent, making it the best-performing asset class by a significant margin.

Keva’s private equity investments returned 1.5 per cent, while its fixed-income investments returned 0.9 per cent.

However, the pension company’s hedge fund and real estate investments performed negatively last year, with returns of -0.1 per cent and -0.2 per cent respectively.

The market value of Keva’s investment assets totalled €74bn at the end of 2025, an increase of €4.1bn over the year.

Within this risk-adjusted allocation, listed equities accounted for 44.6 per cent, fixed income for 30.5 per cent, private equity (including unlisted equities) for 18.9 per cent, real estate for 6.6 per cent, and hedge fund investments for 6.3 per cent.

“Due to low inflation, the real return exceeded 5 per cent,” explained Keva chief executive officer, Jaakko Kiander.

“If not for the weakening of the dollar last year, last year’s result would have been excellent.”

Keva noted that its contribution income grew less than expected in 2025, primarily due to the cost-cutting measures implemented by municipalities and wellbeing services counties, which slowed the growth of the payroll insured by Keva.

Keva chief investment officer, Maaria Kettunen, added that geopolitical tensions were strongly evident last year.

“In particular, unpredictable U.S. policies and concerns about the independence and integrity of key institutions, such as the central bank, unsettled the markets and weakened the dollar,” Kettunen said.

“Despite the tensions, corporate earnings growth remained at a good level, particularly outside Europe.

“Market valuation levels have in some cases climbed high, which may lead to significant price volatility in the short term. There have already been signs of this during the current year.”

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