ATP, the €73bn Danish state pension fund, formally launched into the UK savings market this morning, becoming one of a handful of competitors jockeying to manage a slice of the new pensions assets that will flood in once saving becomes compulsory for all UK workers from next year.

ATP has been planning its move for just over a year, sending its head of international operations, Morten Nilsson, to London last June to open its first office outside Denmark.