Danish pension fund PBU has appointed Daniel Hedemann Nielsen as its new head of real estate, taking him away from Denmark’s largest commercial pension fund PFA.

Hedemann Nielsen, who took up his new role at the Copenhagen-based pension fund this month, is replacing Ib Jansholt.

A spokesman for PBU told IPE Real Assets that Jansholt had successfully built up PBU’s real estate portfolio over more than 15 years, and was now set to continue as a consultant to the pension fund.

Hedemann Nielsen most recently worked for PFA in its global real estate department, but previously worked for the German real estate investment company Patrizia in its Nordic office and elsewhere.

PBU, which covers early-childhood and youth education practitioners, has total assets of around €9bn, almost 9% of which is invested in real estate.

This proportion is likely to increase, according to PBU’s spokesman, as real estate continues to be a strong driver for return in the current market.