Annual Report
2009 was an exciting year. But it was also a year that started in the shadow of the financial crisis with continued negative developments on the capital markets as well as bad economic indicators. The situation remained unchanged until March, when we encountered a turning point with improving market sentiments. The positive atmosphere lasted throughout 2009 resulting in a very satisfactory pre-tax return of 13.8%.
However, the satisfactory return must be seen in light of last year's result which was highly affected by the financial crisis - reflected in a pre-tax return of - 11.1%. Accordingly, the total of the last two years has been a slightly positive net profit for the pension fund. DIP's expectations at the beginning of the year were cautious, as the situation was characterized by increasing unemployment and falling prices in the securities markets.
Based on great uncertainty about the economic development, DIP maintained a balanced profile on the investments in equities, fixed income and real estate throughout the crisis. The pension fund retained the equity portfolio, and used part of the risk budget to invest more actively in credit bonds, which contributed to the positive result.