The pension fund for academics
AkademikerPension admits academic degree holders.
The pension fund’s members are mainly employed in the public sector, at academic institutions and upper secondary schools, which offer pension scheme coverage according to collective agreement.
The pension fund also admits privately employed or self-employed academics.
The proceeds of the pension fund’s assets are enjoyed only by its almost 160,000 members.
Contact and opening hours
Please do not hesitate to contact our pension advisors:
- Phone: + 45 39 150 150.
- Email: medlem@akademikerpension.dk.
For other questions, please write to: post@akademikerpension.dk.
Our opening hours are:
- Monday through Thursday from 9am to 4pm.
- Friday from 9am to 3pm.
§ 53 A, TIN and PAL tax
Non-Danish citizenship
As a member of AkademikerPension and a non-Danish citizen, you are entitled to join a pension scheme under section 53 A of the Danish Pension Tax Act.
While your monthly pension contributions are counted as taxable income and taxed according to your taxation status, retirement payments are not taxed. The same applies if you choose to withdraw your pension savings should you decide to leave Denmark.
Tax identification number
When you live abroad and have a pension scheme in Denmark, it is a statutory requirement that we, as a pension fund, report information about your scheme to the Danish Tax Agency.
To be able to report this information, we need to know your tax identification number.
What is a tax identification number?
It is a number that is used to identify the individual taxpayer. If you lived in Denmark, your Danish CPR number would be your tax identification number.
In other countries, you have special tax identification numbers, which are only used in connection with tax. These are often called TIN, which stands for Tax Identification Number.
You can get help on how to find the tax identification number in the country where you live on the OECD website.
You can send us your tax identification number by filling in our contact form via the button below and doing the following:
- Select the "personlig rådgivning " field and press the "næste" button.
- Select the topic "Skatteidentifikationsnummer", fill in the remaining fields and press the "send" button.
Exemption from the PAL tax
Please note that this does not apply to you if you have savings in a § 53A scheme.
If you live abroad and are not fully taxable in Denmark, you may be exempt from paying tax on the returns from your pension assets (PAL tax). However, you must inform the tax authorities (SKAT) yourself.
If you receive an exemption certificate from SKAT, you must subsequently send it to us so that we can exempt you from the PAL tax.
You can apply using form 07.058 on skat.dk.
The pension scheme and coverage
The pension scheme
This section, which provides a summary of the general coverage in your pension scheme (flexible scheme), also presents an overview of the many options available in our flexible scheme that allow you to adapt your coverage to suit your needs and those of your family. Here is a summary of how you are covered with regards to your pension scheme, considering that you have not opted for an alternative form of benefits. There is also the possibilty of adapting your cover so it matches the needs of your family.
The rules can vary depending on your terms of employment, just as a transitional scheme might apply depending on when you were admitted to the pension fund. The exact details are listed in Rules & Paragraphs.
The described pension, relates to the scheme created within your union agreement (compulsory membership) regardless of your admission date, whether it is after 1 January 2008 or if you have opted for the flexible pension scheme with effect from 1 January 2009. The rules might vary, if you have changed from the old to the flexible pension scheme.
Changing from the old to the Flexible Pension Scheme
If you are admitted in the pension fund before January 1st 2008 and have chosen the Flexible Pension Scheme, different transition scheme will occur.
- You have kept the right to children’s pension when you receive age pension, for children born before January 1st 2008.
- Children's pension in relation to payments of disability pension in progress, will continue until 21/24 years of age.
- The right to payments until the child turns 24 years old are preserved for children’s pensions, that are already being paid out during the change from old to the flexible pension scheme.
Spousal pension/single persons benefit
You have preserved the right to spousal pension from the old scheme, if you have chosen the flexible pension scheme. But you now have the opportunity to change it.
The single persons benefit has been dropped by the transition to the flexible pension scheme.
Non compolsory member
As a non compulsory member, you have good possiblities to choose your pension scheme with us.
Your possibilities
The pension scheme consists of the same coverages as the compulsory members, you simply have other options.
- You can use your entire pension contribution for an expiring annuity pension. However the Danish Pension Taxation Law restricts that DKK 63,100 (2023) can be paid to an expiring annuity pension.
- You can deselect the disability pension or choose the disability pension as an optional percentage of the old-age pension.
If you deselect the disability pension, you are also deselecting the childrens pension if you become disabled. This is due to the fact, that childrens pensions is a procentage of the disability coverage until your old-age pension.
Coverage: Pension
Old-age pension
Your basic cover - (lifelong annuity pension) monthly disbursements from the age of 60/62 and for the rest of your life.
Age-related lump sum
Your basic cover - a one-time payment payable after you reach age 60/62 at the earliest.
Your flexibility - Until 31.12.2012 10% of your contribution to your life-long old-age/annuity pension was used for the age-related lump sum unless you had elected not to receive it. If you do choose to receive the age-related lump sum, your life-long pension, and by extension your spouse/cohabitant and child pension, will be lower as they are set as a percentage of your old-age pension. If you decide not to have the lump sum paid out, the funds remain in your life-long pension. From 1.1.2013 funds are only used for lifelong pension.
Expiring annuity pension – Depending on your terms of employment, you can use part of your obligatory contribution for your expiring-annuity pension:
- Members employed under public-sector collective agreements: You can use up to one-third of your obligatory contribution for your expiring-annuity pensions.
- Private sector employees with group contract: Option to divide payments among life-long annuity pension and expiring-annuity pension, depending on the collective agreement.
- Members not employed under a collective agreement: Option to divide payments freely among life-long annuity pension and expiring-annuity pension.
Coverage: Ilness and disability
Disability pension
Your basic cover - monthly pension, payable if you lose one-half to two-thirds of your earning capability.
Your flexibility - In general, disability pension is set to 100% of your old-age pension at age 67. Your options for raising or lowering this amount depend on your terms of employment. The pension scheme allows you to choose from 0 - 500% of your old-age pension. If employed in the public sector, your disability pension must be at least 40%, or 500% at most, of your old-age pension. However the disability pension can not exceed 90% of your salary or 70 x your monthly pension contribution.
Half disability pension if your earning capability is reduced by one-half to two-thirds before you turn age 60.
Children’s pension
Your basic cover - monthly pension available for children under the age of 21 if you become disabled.
Your flexibility - The childrens's pension is generally set to a 20% of the highest of old-age pension or disability pension. Depending on your agreement, you can choose a children’s pension set to 0 - 20%.
Disability lump sum
Your basic cover - amount from group insurance which is payable if you are awarded permanent disability pension before age 60.
Your flexibility - A non-negotiable part of group insurance.
Certain critical illnesses
Your basic cover - a lump sum of DKK100,000 payable if you are diagnosed with a critical illness before the age of 67.
Your flexibility - A non-negotiable part of group insurance.
Coverage: Death
Spouse/cohabitant’s pension
Your basic cover - monthly disbursements for ten years payable or lifelong to the surviving widow(er), registered partner or cohabitant.
Your flexibility - The pension is generally set to 60% of the old-age pension, but can be changed to between 0-60%. You can also elect to change the pension to a life-long spouse/cohabitant pension, or you can opt out of the coverage entirely.
Children’s pension
Your basic cover - monthly pension disbursements for children under the age of 21.
Your flexibility - The children's pension is generally set to a 20% of the highest of lifelong or disability pension. Depending on your agreement, you can choose a children’s pension set to 0 - 20%. For members employed under public sector collective agreements the children’s pension, however, must set to at least 14%.
Death benefit
Your basic cover - amount payable to closest living relatives or your estate if you die before age 67.
Your flexibility - 0 - 240% of the highest old-age pension or disability pension.
Group life benefit
Your basic cover - payable to closest living survivors if death occurs before age 67.
Your flexibility - A non-negotiable part of group insurance.
Beneficiaries
When a pension fund member dies, their next-of-kin receive the accumulated funds.
However, members can choose to add one or more beneficiaries to their pension scheme. This applies to the capital pension scheme, the expiring annuity pension scheme (ratepension) and to the group life insurance.
Because your contributions to the pension schemes are tax deductible, Danish pension tax regulations carries restrictions as to who can be added as beneficiaries to your pension scheme. They are your next-of-kin, spouse/registered partner (including divorced spouses) and your cohabitant. Step-children, cohabitant’s children and their heirs are also eligible.
There are no restrictions concerning the beneficiaries of your group life insurance, the cost of which is not tax deductible.
Estate tax
Estate taxes are levied on capital pensions and expiring annuity pensions. The pension fund withholds estate taxes before disbursement. The rates are either 15 % or 25 %, favouring descendants in direct line. Spouses are exempt from estate taxes.
About us
A member-owned fund manager
AkademikerPension and its investment arm, MP Investment Management A/S (MPIM), are fully owned by the members. We welcome everyone who is appealed by our profile and values.
The pension fund is experiencing growing interest from new customers, who are attracted by our strong responsible investment profile and solid record with average returns of 7.6 % per year since 2009.
All investment decisions at MPIM are characterized by AkademikerPension's responsible investment policy. As our focus is to generate high returns through responsible investing, we actively pursue sustainability by devolving fossil fuels and other unsustainable investments.
While the majority of our funds are managed by its staff of 25 investment experts, some MPIM funds are outsourced to external experts, who are carefully selected for their expertise in specific investment areas. External fund managers are bound by MPIM’s responsible investment policy and are continuously assessed by our responsible investment team.
AP/MPIM enjoys some of the lowest costs among institutional fund managers in Denmark, because our expenditure was negotiated on the basis of AkademikerPension's entire portfolio of DKK115bn.
The day-to-day operation of MPIM is led by Chief Investment Officer Anders Schelde, who holds master’s degrees in Economics and Business Administration. Before joining MPIM, he was CIO at Nordea Life & Pension.
Annual general meeting
AkademikerPension's highest authority is the annual general meeting.
The supervisory board has ten members, five of whom are directly elected by ballot by members from among members. One member is appointed by each of the three organisations: the Danish Association of Masters and PhDs (DM), the Danish Psychological Association (DP), and the Danish National Union of Upper Secondary School Teachers (GL).
A further member is appointed by the organisations jointly, while a final member is directly elected by members at the annual general meeting. Supervisory board elections take place every three years.
Complaints
If you disagree with something
If you disagree with our decision in your case, we encourage you to take it up with the handling department before contacting the complaints manager. Our experience is that many disagreements can be solved through dialogue, which is often the best solution for all parties involved.
Complaint resolution procedures
If you are not satisfied with the outcome after discussing it with the relevant department, please write to the pension fund’s complaints officer, who will assess your case. Serving as a liaison between the administration and the complainant, the complaints officer is responsible for handling appeals of the administration's decisions.
Please address your complaint to AkademikerPension’s Complaints Officer, Thomas Dahl Hurrelbrink, at klage@akademikerpension.dk
The Insurance Complaints Board
If the disagreement remains after the Complaints Officer (and possibly AkademikerPension’s board) has considered the case, you can bring it to the Insurance Complaints Board by completing a form downloadable from www.ankeforsikring.dk
The board can also be reached at:
Ankenævnet for Forsikring
Anker Heegaards Gade 2, 1
1572 København V
Tel. 33 15 89 00 (10am–13pm)
A fee of DKK200 is payable for complaints to the Insurance Complaints Board. The fee is returned to you if the board decides fully or partly in your favour. It is our policy to follow a decision made by the Insurance Complaints Board, but we reserve the right to appeal it within 30 days.
The courts or arbitration
Instead of bringing a case to the Insurance Complaints Board, you can:
- Bring your case to court or
- Require settlement through arbitration
You can also bring your case to court if the Insurance Complaints Board did not decide in your favour or if we rejected its decision.
European Commission's online complaint portal
Members residing in another EU country may also bring their complaint before the European Commission, at the European Commission´s complaint portal.
Our email address should be entered in the complaint: klage@akademikerpension.dk