Denmark's Forsikring & Pension (F&P) has joined European pension fund association, PensionsEurope.

According to F&P, the move will ensure Danish pensions are close to regulatory discussions in the industry, an area that has become particularly central to EU debate in recent months.

“By acquiring a membership of PensionsEurope, there is no doubt that we are increasing the Danish pension industry's opportunities to influence EU regulation in areas that are absolutely central to our sector,” said F&P CEO, Kent Damsgaard.

Damsgaard also highlighted that membership will provide an opportunity to scale-up on sustainable finance knowledge and best-practice, an area incurring a substantial amount of regulatory attention today.

Earlier this year, PensionsEurope welcomed alignment of reporting standards for pension funds by the European Central Bank (ECB) and European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA).

Praises were made as part of its input to the European Commission’s ‘Roadmap on supervisory data strategy.’

It thanked the commission for “good and constructive dialogue over the past years on our concerns and suggestions".

“Our industry will be met with a requirement to disclose their decisions in relation to sustainability on a number of different points. We in Denmark are at the forefront when it comes to working with sustainability," added Damsgaard.

"But EU regulation risks becoming unnecessarily expensive and hassle-free, so we want to put maximum pressure on the authorities to get rules that benefit - rather than hassle."

In June, Swedish insurance and occupational pensions association, Svensk Försäkring, announced it was joining PensionsEurope as a member.

Damsgaard said membership will strengthen relationships between pension funds in Nordic countries across Europe.

“With membership of PensionsEurope, we get an even stronger opportunity to form an alliance in the pension area with countries such as the Netherlands and Sweden and the other Nordic countries, which have similar pension systems as the Danish one,” he said.

“We represent the best pension systems in the world - so we have an expectation of being able to talk with weight, and that we will be listened to.”

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