Denmark’s Velliv has found a new chief investment officer, hiring Lea Vaisalo – head of private markets at Nordea Asset Management – as the permanent replacement for Anders Stensbøl Christiansen, who resigned in November.
Vaisalo, who will take on the new job on 1 May, will preside over the revamped, index-based strategy, that Velliv has been putting in place under chief executive officer Kim Kehlet Johansen, who came to the pension provider a year ago from ATP.
Since Stensbøl Christiansen left, deputy CIO Thor Schultz Christensen, has been in charge of day-to-day investment management at the DKK270bn (€36.2bn) pensions firm.
Kehlet Johansen said in Friday’s announcement that he was pleased to welcome Vaisalo as new CIO and member of Velliv’s management board.
“Lea comes to Velliv with international management experience, a high level of professionalism and in-depth knowledge of the entire investment universe as well as a strong customer focus,” he said.
“So we’ve found the right person to meet the objectives of Velliv’s new investment strategy of having a long-term return in the best part of the market,” he added.
Previously to her role Nordea AM, Vaisalo has also worked at Nordea Life & Pension, PKA, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase Bank in London, Velliv said.
Vaisalo said Velliv’s ownership structure, “extraordinary customer focus” and targeted vision created the foundation for a unique market position, which she looks forward to helping to drive forward.
“Together, we will continue the targeted work of creating robust investment returns, good customer experiences and a strong and future-proof business model for the benefit of customers,” Vaisalo said.
Two weeks ago, Velliv made its entire active equities and alternatives teams redundant, as it implemented a new index-based strategy ahead of the arrival of a new CIO.
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