Our main stewardship tools are nomination committees and Board representation

Första AP-fonden works actively and responsibly on nomination committees to influence our Swedish and Nordic holdings when our ownership share so warrants. 

Our work on nomination committees

Working on nomination committees provides us with an important opportunity as owners to influence the composition of the Boards of companies in which we have invested. This is why we work actively on nomination committees in both listed and unlisted holdings, when so justified by our ownership share. Our work on nomination committees is based on the Fund’s mandate, our core values, our Responsible Investment Policy and our view of what is best for the company in question. 

Our nomination committee representatives aim for the work of the nomination committee to be based on a clear analysis of needs based on each company’s strategic and operational challenges, and that the search for new candidates is based on a clear requirements profile. 

We work to promote diversity and equality

We believe that groups, and therefore Boards of Directors, with a high level of cognitive diversity are more effective and therefore better equipped than more homogeneous groups to deal with risks and opportunities. Första AP-fonden believes that gender equality and diversity increase the Board’s experience and skills base and promote dynamic Board work. That is why our nomination committee representatives work to broaden the recruitment base, taking into account diversity and gender equality. We aim to achieve a 40 per cent share for the least represented gender on companies’ Boards. The Swedish Corporate Governance Board also favours the same objective for the Boards of listed companies.

Active Board representation

We endeavour to maintain our own Board representation in unlisted companies where Första AP-fonden has a significant share of the voting rights. Active work on companies’ Boards ensures long-term value creation and good corporate governance in the companies due to the fact that we are involved in and influence important decisions concerning the companies’ strategies and operations. 

The table below presents companies and representatives where Första AP-fonden represents the Fund on the nomination committee. 

Participation in Nomination Committees season 2024/25