The Asset Holdings of Danish Pension Funds: Insights from a Novel ISIN-level Dataset

Based on a new dataset developed by the authors, this paper studies the domestic listed equity investments of Danish pension funds. Compared to other financial investors, tentative evidence is found that pension funds (a) tend to focus more on large companies; (b) have a longer holding period and (c) obtain higher portfolio returns with less volatility. The new dataset, covering about three quarters of Danish pension fund holdings, will form the basis of future research on wider economic effects, including economic growth and productivity, of Danish pension funds’ investment activities.