Lars Petterson has been moved up within Norway’s Storebrand Asset Management, stepping into the role of head of sales for Sweden as part of Storebrand’s expansion plans on its Nordic neighbour’s territory.

Petterson, a former responsible investment consultant, is to take charge of boosting product distribution of funds under the SPP Fonder name — the Swedish company Storebrand bought a decade ago.

SPP Fonder has now become the biggest funds firm in Sweden after the four major banks, managing SEK 170 billion (EUR 17.8 billion) of capital, and has seen its business growth by more than 20% in recent years, Storebrand says.

Jørgen Hemdal, head of institutional clients at Storebrand Asset Management, says: "Storebrand Asset Management is in a strong expansion phase.”

Petterson will play an important role in furthering Storebrand Asset Management in the Swedish market, he says.

“His long experience in sales and development in the finance industry means that he combines both routine and future operations in an excellent way and is just the right person to take on the leadership role,” Hemdal says.

Petterson was previously institutional salesman and adviser at Storebrand Asset Management, and has also worked in sales at both Öhman and Nordea.

He says he is looking forward to the new job.

 “Our focus on sustainability has been a decisive factor in our growth over the last few years, and interest in this is increasing all the time,” he says, adding that this is a position Storebrand will now build on as its takes its next step in Sweden.