Amin Obeidi has been named as German head of pensions at Nokia’s German subsidiary, according to outgoing head Thomas Friese.
Retiring after nearly 10 years as global head of pension and insurance at Nokia-Siemens Network (NSN), since renamed Nokia, Friese will remain as chairman of the €1bn NSN Pension Trust, a contractual trust arrangement (CTA) used to fund the sponsor’s liabilities.
As part of mergers and restructurings over the last years, Nokia as named Obeidi as head of pensions for Germany, Jean Grisi as global head of pensions and Xavier Langlois Destaintot as head of pensions Europe.
Obeidi is currently senior asset manager, pensions, and has been working alongside Friese at the NSN Pension Trust for a number of years, helping run its €1bn in assets which comprise the former pension fund for Nokia-Siemens Networks and retirement income for Nokia’s German staff.
A chartered alternative investment analyst, Obeidi previously managed asset-backed securities funds for institutional and retail clients, and holds a banking and finance degree.
NSN has allocated around 20% of assets to alternatives, and Friese previously identified the area as one into which the CTA should continue to invest.
Prior to assuming responsibility for pensions in 2007, Friese was head of project financing at Siemens Financial Services, where he worked for 16 years.
He told IPE he was looking forward to his partial retirement, while continuing his involvement with NSN by chairing its board. He added that he hoped to use his experience in other roles, but it remained to be seen how the situation developed.
“If I don’t end up on any other boards, then I can just sail around on my yacht,” he joked.
Friese recalled the establishment of the CTA in 2007, and said it was among the best-performing of such vehicles in the German market, achieving an annualised return of 6.8% since inception.
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