FIXED INCOME
to attract more people to our industry.
It requires a change of mindset, which
takes time. I believe we need to rethink
both where and how we recruit people
and broaden the search universe for new
positions, not only looking for people
with the traditional skillsets.
The job describtion and content of the
job has to be revised. As I mentioned
before, finance is not a cool place to
work. Besides flexibility, the ability to
work from home might help. Not all
our daily tasks are trading related and
with a good back-up scheme, it should
be possible. Creating temporary jobs
in order to give young people, equally
across genders, a deeper insight in to
the industry could also be a possible
solution. Over the past years, we have
hired more graduates and interns which
is another way to get additional skillsets
into the team.
With the asset management industry
strengthening their Environmental,
social and governance (ESG) efforts
overall. Which efforts do you see as
the most effective and how does this
impact your trading role?
I have no doubt that the AM industry
will strengthen their ESG efforts, every
survey we have seen supports this. The
tremendous amount of AUM that has
been signed up to the UNPRI (principles
for responsible investments), where one
of the pillars is to have ESG integrated
in all investment processes, is further
evidence in support of that statement.
We already now see signs that the
engagement and the real impact of
this is getting an increased amount of
attention. The real asset owners, our
clients, are already asking for reports on
the real impact of the ESG processes. We
also see clients are more and more aware
of how the ESG processes should be
structured; more robust and repeatable.
A generic response that “ESG is part of
our DNA” and “we have always been very
ESG aware” is not good enough anymore.
At Nordea AM we have integrated ESG
Winter/Spring 2020
into our investment processes. We also
made a survey among our clients as to
whether they were ready to invest in
products with focus on substainability.
The results showed very positive
responses, so the client demand is there.
Similarly, to the developments within
trading technology, I think green bonds,
ESG and substainable investments have
just started the journey. I find it a very
interesting area and we have launched
something that we call “Star Funds”
within almost all investment areas here
at Nordea AM and I foresee that more
will come. ESG is moving mainsteam,
there is no doubt about that, but I think
it is important to remember that ESG
might mean different things to different
firms and investors (the EU Commision’s
taxonomy should help define this
though).
I think ESG will impact my trading role
with the increased focus it gets. 2019 has
been a record year for green bonds and
the development will continue. It might
become a scarcely traded “asset class”
in the coming years on the secondary
market as many investors will hold on to
maturity. We will have to follow the ESG
processes when trading and we need
to take other things in to consideration,
not just the usual financial and economic
data but also the social aspect. Being
on top of information that could have a
negative impact on our ESG investments,
is becoming increasingly important. If an
investment falls out of the ESG compliant
environment and we have to act upon
this, the speed of reaction plays a huge
role and therefore important that we
act in a timely matter. Data is even more
important for our ESG processes, both
regarding monitoring and the number
of various factors that we need to
incorporate into the investment decision.
Linking this discussion back to the
gender diversity topic, the fact that
women are responsible for managing
their own economy and investments
today, I believe they will tend to pay
much more attention to substainable
investments.
www.buysideintel.com
Do you have any interests outside of
work to help relieve the day to day
stresses of trading? Are you
able to achieve a good work life
balance?
I LOVE good food and wine and to
justify that I run, cycle and go to the
gym (and do everything from yoga
to cross fit there). Travelling with my
family and friends is another way of
relaxing for me and I still have several
places to see on my bucket list. Japan
is next and then I hope to either travel
on a Safari or visit Canada. I tend to
“forget” the Nordic’s as my children
have been to a lot of places around
the world but seen much less of
Scandinavia including Denmark. It is
hard to sell a holiday in the Nordics
when I have to ask them to remember
an umbrella when packing their
suitcases for the summer holiday!
I also volunteer and am especially
involved in helping children with
psoriasis to get a better life with their
disease. I am a member of a book club
and a wine club, where we discuss
much more than books and wine!
I am also a board member in our local
community where I, besides the more
traditional tasks like; contacting our
council, arranging snow removal and
maintaining our green spaces, arrange
parties and other social activities for
our members to bring the community
together.
Work life balance. Well, it is hard but I
have huge flexibility in my job, which
I really value. Work life balance is one
of the priorities we are working on
in our global trading team and it is a
very important area for Nordea Asset
Management.
I must admit it is often difficult to
maintain, but I am lucky to have a very
understanding husband who loves to
cook, so that I do not have to worry too
much about that. However, I also see
the lack of work life balance as a sign
that I really enjoy my job.
29