Annual Report 2023KLP Group, Sustainability Report and KLP

Sverre Thornes has been CEO of KLP since January 2008. Prior to that, he was Executive Vice President responsible for life insurance, and from 2001 to 2006, he headed KLP Kapitalforvaltning. He joined KLP as a fixed income manager in 1995. Thornes has a BA in Business Administration from the American College in Paris.

Kirsten Grutle joined KLP as HR Director on 1 September 2011, coming from the post of HR Director at Accenture Norway. Shae has been part of KLP Group management since 2016. Grutle previously worked at Telenor and EDB Business Partner, and has extensive experience of HR and management. She has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Bergen.

Cathrine Hellandsvik has headed the Life and Pension division since 2023. She has been Director of the Customer department since 2012. She was previously Director of Business Policy and Analysis at KLP and also has many years of ministry experience. Cathrine Hellandsvik has a degree in Economics from the University of Oslo.

Hege Hodnesdal joined KLP as Executive Vice President for Pension Operations on 1 August 2023. She came from the position of Director of Non-Life Insurance at Finance Norway, where she has been responsible for the business policy related to non-life insurance for the last six years. Prior to this, she worked in various positions at Storebrand for over 20 years. For a time, she was also managing director of Storebrand Skadeforsikring and part of the group management. Hege Hodnesdal has a degree in Economics from BI Norwegian Business School, specialising in finance.

Rune Hørnes joined KLP as Executive Vice President for IT on 1 October 2016. He came from a position as head of IT (CIO) at Storebrand, where he held various positions from 2005 onwards. In the time before Storebrand, Hørnes was senior manager at Accenture, in banking and insurance. He has long and broad experience from working at the intersection of business strategy, IT, organisation and work processes. Hørnes has a degree in Economics from the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen.

Ida Louise Skaurum Mo was appointed Executive Vice President for Corporate Governance from 1 January 2023. The division includes the Group Legal Affairs, Corporate Social Responsibility, Strategy and Governance, Compliance, Risk Analysis and Control, and Financial Crime departments. Mo comes from the position of General Counsel and Head of the Corporate Governance Section at KLP, and joined KLP as a lawyer in 2006. She previously worked as a legal examiner at the Supreme Court, as a judge and in the Thommessen law firm. Mo has a Master of Law degree from the University of Oslo and a degree in Economics from NHH Norwegian School of Economics.

Gro Myking joined KLP as Executive Vice President Communication and Markets on 1 February 2016. She was marketing director at Posten Norge AS from 2007-2016. Myking was previously Executive Vice President, Markets, in the Hakon Group/ICA Norge, and ran her own consultancy company. She has Board experience from several major Norwegian companies. Myking has a degree in Economics from the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen.

Jarl Nygaard was appointed Executive Vice President Business Development from 1 January 2023. He joined KLP in 2018 as Director of Business Development. Prior to that, he was head of Business Development for the corporate area in Storebrand Livsforsikring where he held various positions from 2005. In the time before Storebrand, Nygaard was a manager at Accenture, in banking and insurance. He has more than 25 years’ experience in business development and working at the interface between business and IT, primarily within the pension and insurance field in Norway and the Nordic region. Nygaard has a degree in Economics from the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen.

Aage Schaanning has been CFO of KLP since 2008. Schaaning headed KLP Kapitalforvaltning from 2006-2008. He previously worked with borrowing, finance management and administration in BNbank and Kredittkassen before joining KLP in 2001 as investment director in KLP Kapitalforvaltning. Schaanning has a MBA from the University of Colorado and is a certified financial analyst.

The Board of Directors of KLP

The Board consists of eight members and two deputies, one of whom is a permanent attendee. Two observers also attend.

The Corporate Assembly elects five Board members, including the chair and deputy chair of the Board. The employee organisation that has the most members with pension rights in KLP elects one Board member with a personal deputy. Two Board members are elected by and from KLP’s employees.

The Board of Directors has three sub-committees: The Risk Committee, the Audit Committee and the Remuneration Committee. These prepare matters for discussion and make their recommendations to the Board, but do not make decisions. The composition of the committees is governed in the Financial Institutions Act and Regulations. The Audit Committee covers the whole Group.

The Risk Committee and the Audit Committee consist of the same people, and hold their meetings at the same time, usually a few days before the Board meeting. In 2023, the Risk Committee and the Audit Committee had 10 meetings.

The Remuneration Committee is a committee for the Board of Directors of KLP and for the subsidiaries that have such committees. The Remuneration Committee is a preparatory and advisory working committee for the Board’s deliberations on remuneration questions, leadership development at Group management level, and HR strategy for the Group. The Remuneration Committee usually has two meetings a year. In 2023, the Remuneration Committee held one meeting.

The authorities set requirements related to suitability and fitness for directors of an insurance company. These are stated in the company's guidelines for suitability and fitness, where the Board has also included social understanding as a desired skill. Increased attention to sustainability and climate/environmental issues also requires the Board to have expertise in these areas. The Board has overall responsibility for financial and sustainability reporting. The Board evaluates its expertise and its own work each year, including the competence and factual basis behind assessments of the company's sustainability risk. The outcome of the evaluation is shared with KLP’s nomination committee, and is important to the committee’s efforts to find suitable candidates for the Board.

When they join the Board, new members are offered an introduction to KLP, its products and management, and important regulations and processes in KLP. After its annual self-assessment, the Board identifies two topics that they would like a more detailed introduction to during the year. At least once a year, the Board discusses strategic issues for KLP. The Board also has an annual study trip, where relevant and topical issues are discussed, often with external facilitators.

Tine Sundtoft has been Chair of the Board of Directors of KLP since 2022. She is also county chef executive in Agder. She was previously Minister of Climate and Environment in the Solberg Government (2013-2015), and before that business policy adviser to the Conservative Party’s Storting group (1995-1996), regional director of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) at Agder (1996-2005) and county councillor in Vest-Agder county municipality (2005-2013). Sundtoft has extensive board experience from Agder Energi, Statens Lånekasse and Norsk Kulturminnefond, among others. She graduated from BI Norwegian Business School.

Sundtoft provides the Board with special expertise in general social understanding as well as important customer and product knowledge. Her previous work as Minister of Climate and Environment also brings valuable expertise on sustainability, climate and environmental issues.

Kjerstin Fyllingen joined the Board of KLP in 2023. She is also CEO of Haraldsplass Diakonale Hospital. She is former executive vice president at Tryg Forsikring (2006-2013) and divisional director at Vital Insurance (2002-2006), and held management positions in the DNB group (1986-2000). Fyllingen has extensive Board experience from e.g. Fana Sparebank, Landkreditt insurance, the NSB Group, the Norwegian Financial Services Association and various Board positions in the Tryg Group. She graduated from BI Norwegian Business School and INSEAD.

Fyllingen has extensive experience from previous work in senior management in major finance groups, and brings important expertise to the Board in the areas of finance, pensions and insurance, as well as business understanding, strategy and risk understanding. Fyllingen also brings customer expertise from her current position as CEO of Haraldsplass Diakonale Hospital.

Egil Matsen has been a Board member at KLP since 2022. He was a deputy member from 2020. Matsen is a Professor of Economics at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and a former Deputy Governor of the central bank with special responsibility for the the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) and a member of the Executive Board of Norges Bank. He has been CEO of Forte Fondsforvaltning and head of the Department of Economics at NTNU. He chaired the Corona Commission during its work on Report no 2 and was a member of the committee that reviewed the ethical guidelines for the GPFG in 2019-2020. Matsen holds a PhD in Economics from the Norwegian School of Economics.

The experience from Norges Bank and Forte asset management provides Matsen with a unique expertise in financial analysis, understanding of financial markets and the management of KLP’s pension capital. This expertise makes Matsen particularly well qualified to chair the Board’s audit and risk committee.

Terje Rootwelt joined the Board of KLP in 2023. He has been CEO of the regional health trust Helse Sør-Øst since 2021. Rootwelt is a qualified pediatrician, MD and healthcare manager and holds a PhD from the University of Oslo on the resuscitation of newborns. Until 2021, he was the clinic manager for the Children and Youth Clinic at Oslo University Hospital Trust and Professor II of Paediatrics at the University of Oslo. He was also Vice President of Oslo University Hospital Trust (2015-2016). Rootwelt has Board experience from Spekter-Helse and Oslo Science City.

As a senior executive in a corporate group with over 80,000 employees, Rootwelt provides the Board with unique experience of managing large enterprises, which is relevant to large financial groups also. Rootwelt also brings important expertise in ICT strategy and digital understanding, readiness and social understanding.

Odd Haldgeir Larsen was elected to the Board of KLP in 2018. He is vice-chair of Fagforbundet (the Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees) and represents the employee organisation with the most members in KLP.

From his long career in union work, Larsen provides the Board of KLP with particularly important social insight and understanding of KLP’s insurance customers.

Erling Bendiksen was elected to the Board of KLP as an employee representative in 2021. He has been employed by KLP since 1981 and works as a Customer and Sales Manager. Bendiksen has many years of experience as an elected representative and is now the Chief Safety Representative at KLP. Erling has an advanced insurance qualification from the Insurance Academy. He completed the study programme on “Rhetoric, Communication and Management” at BI Norwegian Business School.

Bendiksen provides the Board with important insurance and product expertise, as well as insight into the employees’ conditions and interests in the KLP group.

Vibeke Heldal, Board member

Vibeke Heldal was elected to the Board of KLP as an employee representative in 2021. She started at KLP in 2003 and works as an IT Business Analyst in the IT contract administration division at the Bergen office, and has since 2016 functioned as prime union representative for the KLP employees in Bergen. Heldal has a varied professional background, and worked in the oil and gas sector from 1989-1999. She holds a BA in Finance and Administration from BI Norwegian Business School.

Heldal brings important and business-specific product and ICT expertise to the Board.

Rune Simensen is Director of Technology and e-Health at Helse Sør-Øst RHF. He was elected as first deputy member in May 2022 and has been a permanent attendee. Rune Simensen has served as a Board member since another director stepped down in October 2023.

Simensen has extensive experience in the ICT area, in both the private and the public sector, and offers the Board significant expertise in this area.

Tone Ikdahl, 2nd deputy member
Managing Director of Lovisenberg Diakonale Hospital. New deputy Board member from 2023.