A total of USD 381bn, or 10.8 per cent, of Nordic pension fund equities is invested in companies that do not have any women on their boards, a new report by Denominator has found.

The third edition of The Human Factor report by Demoninator analysed the equity allocations of 25 Nordic pension funds, covering commercial, labour market, and government pension funds, representing approximately USD 3trn in assets under management.

The average portfolio size comprised 1,552 equity investments valued at USD 123bn.

Of all the countries analysed, Denmark was the worst performer with an average allocation of 12 per cent of capital to companies with no female representation on the board; this is 69 per cent more than Finland’s score, which stood at 7.1 per cent.

Some of the Danish pension funds included in the report are Danica Pension, PKA, Sampension, ATP and PFA, among others. However, the results are anonymised, as the goal is to provide an overview of social and human capital performance in the sector.

The report aimed to provide a “consistent and comparable” data foundation, and establish an industry benchmark whilst capturing the current state of human capital in Nordic pension funds’ equity investments.

“We are encouraged by the growing number of pension funds contributing to the baseline for an industry benchmark. It’s great to see the sector coming together to promote transparency and drive meaningful action,” Denominator CEO, Anders Rodenberg, said.

In addition to a diversity analysis across leadership, the report examined key human capital indicators, including turnover rates, gender pay and bonus gaps, as well as parental leave and other relevant policies.

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