AP4 appoints external managers

Fjärde AP-fonden (the Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund) has appointed external managers for equity investments in Japan and Pacific. For management of Japanese equities, Martin Currie Investment Management Limited has been appointed. The size of the mandate is 48 Billion JPY. For management of Pacific equities excluding Japan, two investment managers have been appointed: Capital International Limited and APS Asset Management Private Limited. The managers will initially receive 80 million USD each.

Fjärde AP-fonden has thereby concluded the search for external investment managers, which was announced in the beginning of April 2002. The search included one mandate for Japanese equities and one mandate for Pacific equities excluding Japan.

Fjärde AP-fonden’s main selection criteria include investment process, ability to generate performance, experience, organization and resources and fees.

- Fjärde AP-fonden believes that there is a good potential to outperform in Asia through active investment management. The selected managers are expected to create a high risk-adjusted return and will also allow a stronger focus to the internal organization. The announced mandates are the first active mandates outsourced to external investment managers and are a part of the overall portfolio optimization, says Björn Linder, Chief Investment Officer.

Fjärde AP-fonden is one of four "buffer funds" for the state pension scheme in Sweden. Assets under management corresponded to 122 Billion SEK as per 30 June 2002. Our mission is to provide adequate funds to cover the state’s pay-as-you-earn pension commitments. We aim, therefore, to invest our capital in such a way as to provide the best long-term return for the state pension scheme as a whole.

For questions concerning these mandates, please contact:

Björn Linder, Chief Investment Officer

+46-8-787 75 53

Björn Danckwardt-Lillieström, Head of Equities

+46-8-787 75 15