Episode summary
IF Nordics Denmark 2026: Rasmus Bessing of PFA Spoke to Muskan Arora
Summary
Rasmus Bessing, co-CIO at PFA, said the biggest near-term worries for markets are geopolitics, but also more structural forces such as AI, inflation and other classic financial risks. He argued that markets have proved resilient through recent volatility, even though higher energy prices and stickier inflation could become more important if the geopolitical backdrop worsens.
On responsible investing, Bessing said PFA has kept its overall direction and still treats climate risk as a real risk to portfolio value. He said the firm has committed to net zero and science-based targets, and tries to build an equity portfolio that stays close to index while overweighting companies committed to transforming their businesses and the real economy.
He also said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forced Danish and Nordic pension funds to rethink defense investing. PFA created a new framework to increase exposure to European defense companies and now holds the majority of its defense investments there, while also building a stewardship framework for active ownership. At the same time, he said defense is not considered sustainable, and PFA keeps its climate fund separate for investors who want a greener mandate without defense exposure.
Key takeaways
- Bessing said PFA sees climate risk as a real portfolio risk and has committed to net zero and science-based targets.
- He said markets have been resilient, but higher energy prices and inflation remain important structural concerns.
- PFA increased its exposure to European defense companies after Russia invaded Ukraine and now holds most of its defense investments there.
- Bessing said PFA does not classify defense as sustainable, so it keeps defense out of its climate fund.
- He argued that governance is becoming more important in defense investing because institutional investors need active stewardship in a sector with limited prior pension-fund ownership.
Notable quotes
“we believe that climate risk is a true risk uh to the value of our of our portfolio”
“we had been quite restrained. So what we did was basically establish a new framework for for defense investments”
“we have the majority of our investments are in European defense”
“I don't want to we don't have the view that defense investing is sustainable”
How the episode opens
Hi everyone, my name is Muskan and I'm in Denmark at the markets group Denmark institutional forum. Today with me is — Wasmus Bing from P. — Amazing. And could you tell me a bit more about the role? — Yeah, I am I'm co-CIO and heading up our responsible investments and and products.
Absolutely. And as a CIO, what are the biggest concerns that you have in the current environment? Well, I mean, of course, the geopolitical situation is is concerning. Uh, however, I think markets have been able to absorb quite a lot. We have seen that over over the the the few last few years. Uh, but of of course also more structurally AI, the development, inflation and more classical financial stuff is is of course what we have focused on.
Amazing. And you know you just came off a very interesting ESG panel where you were with one of the top leaders and you had a great discussion about you know what you're looking at the market climate investments. Could you tell me what your sentiment is towards climate investments and ESG in the current landscape?
Yes absolutely. Uh you know uh at BFA I think we can say we have maintained our overall direction with our portfolio. So we believe that climate risk is a true risk uh to the value of our of our portfolio. So we've committed to net server asset own alliance and our portfolio we have committed to sciencebased targets
And trying basically to create portfolio that is close to index on the equity side but where we have an overweight of companies that are committed to scientific basis of transforming their companies and thereby hopefully contributing to to the transformation of the real economy.
Absolutely.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- climate risk
- defense and geopolitics
- responsible investing
- esg portfolio construction
- nordic markets
Companies and tickers mentioned
- PFA
Watch the episode
Watch “IF Nordics Denmark 2026: Rasmus Bessing of PFA Spoke to Muskan Arora” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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