ATP’s history

The ATP Group is Denmark’s largest pension fund and processing business.
With ATP Livslang Pension (Lifelong Pension), we ensure stable and guaranteed pensions for pensioners - both today and in the future. We have done so since 1964 where the Danish Parliament established ATP (Labour Market Supplementary Pension) to ensure that pensioners receive a supplement to the state-funded old-age pension. Read ATP's history in brief.

1964

ATP is founded

In 1964, the Danish Parliament chose to create the Danish Labour Market Supplementary Pension Scheme (ATP, or Arbejdsmarkedets Tillægspension in Danish). This is because they believed that the state pension would be a heavy budget item for the state and they wanted the elderly to be guaranteed a certain level of income. This was to be achieved via everyone - through ATP - saving up for their own old age.

1973

ATP begins its processing business

In 1973, it was decided that ATP would process Lønmodtagernes Garantifond (LG). This result in a new kind of work for ATP - processing some of the labour market schemes. Today, ATP processes nine schemes, the latest one being the Labour Market Insurance (AES, or Arbejdsmarkedets Erhvervssikring in Danish).

Read more about the processing business
1990s

More people are covered by ATP

From the early 1990s, the Danish Parliament begins to introduce a series of amendments to the ATP Act. Among other things, this resulted in ATP beginning to pay a lump sum to surviving spouses of ATP members and more groups who were not in the labour market now becoming part of the ATP scheme.

2011

ATP as an administrative group

The Danish parliament decides that ATP is to assume responsibility for part of the welfare state’s core benefits. A new authority is created, Udbetaling Danmark, and it is charged with solving a number of tasks on behalf of the municipalities. Since then, ATP has been in charge of the so-called “objective case processing” in connection with the payment of state pensions, disability pensions, rent subsidies, maternity/paternity benefits and family benefits. Over the course of just a few years, ATP manages to reduce the annual costs by around DKK 300 million per year for the municipalities. ATP is now Denmark’s largest administrator of welfare and social security schemes.

2019

Historically high returns

In 2019, there was achieved historically high returns, with a profit for the year of DKK 34 bn. In 2019, ATP contributes with DKK 19 bn in pension returns and corporate taxes to the Danish state.

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