One of the largest Swedish state pension schemes is to increase its holdings in hedge funds dramatically as investors look to reinvigorate performance and alternative managers have redoubled their efforts to win over institutional investors.

AP1, the first AP fund, which contributes to the Swedish state pension system, has begun searching for hedge funds to manage up to Skr14.4bn (€1.5bn) of its Skr202.4bn in assets, according to a request for proposals on its website yesterday.