Supervising solvency

The Danish Financial Services Authority has been proactive in introducing regulation aimed at bolstering the solvency of the country's pension and insurance industry. The recent introduction of individual capital assessments brings the system a step closer to Solvency II. Wietske Blees talks to Henrik Bjerre-Nielsen, director-general at the regulator

Denmark's life insurance and pension fund sector has carved a reputation for sound risk management over the years. The country's pension funds are at the forefront of the drive towards liability-driven investment, and have vastly increased their use of interest rate swaps and swaptions since the turn of the decade to match their assets and liabilities. It wasn't always so.

In the 1990s, it was common for Danish pension fund and life insurance companies to offer guarantees on policies. In fact