Members of LD Discretionary were credited with a return of 6.9 per cent in 2017. This is a very satisfactory return, particularly given the portfolios’ relatively low risk. LD Discretionary comprises 540,000 members and accounts for just over 90 per cent of LD’s assets of DKK 42 billion.
All investment areas made a positive contribution to the performance of LD Discretionary. Equities made the largest contribution, but both credit investments and bond investments also made significant contributions. Alternative investments, which mainly comprise investment funds and unlisted shares, also made a strong contribution; however, as alternative investments have a lower weighting than bonds, credit and shares, the contribution in kroner and øre was smaller than the contributions from these other areas.
Members of the equity funds have once again enjoyed high returns. LD Danish Equities tops the list with an attributed return of 14.8 per cent. Next comes LD Environment & Climate, which delivered a return of 12.9 per cent to its members. The return on LD Global Equities stood at 8.7 per cent, which is in line with performance on the global equity markets. The portfolio’s performance has been influenced by the weakening of the US dollar, which has fallen in value relative to the euro and the Danish krone. The fall in the US dollar has capped the return on LD Global Equities and has also had some impact on the return on LD Environment & Climate.
The bond portfolios all delivered positive and satisfactory returns, which should be assessed in the context of the very low interest rate environment. LD Short-Term Bonds delivered an attributed return of 1.4 per cent, which was very satisfactory given the low interest rate risk associated with the investment. In LD Mixed Bonds, a return of 2.0 per cent was recorded.
The external portfolios also achieved positive and good returns, with Maj Invest Kontra being the sole exception. Maj Invest Kontra is designed to act as a counterbalance during periods of turbulence in the financial markets. The portfolios’ returns are generally modest when the markets are performing well.
Returns for 2017
Current returns in 2018
