Kari Vatanen, chief investment officer at Veritas, the smallest of the Finnish private pension institutions, has left his role and is joining rival Elo as head of asset allocation.
In his new role, starting 1 November, Vatanen will be reporting to CIO Jonna Ryhänen, who took the reins of the investments at Elo at the end of 2023.
Ryhänen, who previously held Vatanen’s role, said it needed to be filled as she was promoted. She said the role includes, apart from asset allocation, alternative investments, such as hedge funds, and currency risk management.
“Another part of the role is to further develop the responsible investment strategy, as well as developing the trading and information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure,’ she added, noting that the role has significant bearings for Elo’s results and tasks closely related to the development of the investment strategy.
Vatanen, who joined Veritas in March 2020, will be on gardening leave until he starts at Elo and would not be drawn on commenting on his new role at Elo.
Of his time at Veritas he said: “The most rewarding has been the work with talented professionals in Veritas’ portfolio managment team and a learning journey in asset management and allocation in the era of COVID, Ukrainian invasion and rapidly rising inflation.”
In a release Carl Haglund, CEO of Veritas, thanked Vatanen on behalf of the company and said that under his leadership the company’s “investment activities and strategy have developed significantly”.
As Veritas starts searching for a replaceent, Laura Wickström, portfolio manager, will be acting CIO at Veritas as of 30 April.
Veritas, with €4.6bn in assets under management, returned 3.7% for Q1, and Elo, with assets of €30.9bn, returned 3.3%.
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