"Being an adviser was one thing, but I wanted to do the investing myself"

Career Path: Karsten Kjellerup Kjeldsen, CIO of Industriens Pension tells AMWatch why, after ten years of working on the sell-side in the city of London, he has been happier in the investment driving seat at Nordea and since last year – on the board of management of Industriens Pension.

BY RACHEL FIXSEN

Published: 16.10.17 at 12:11

What career path did you envision for yourself when you were younger?

I think I wanted to do business, but for me it was a very blurry concept until leaving school. So I had some idea that the business world was interesting to me, but that was as far as it went. Then I did a combination of mathematics and finance at university, which exposed me to some of the more technical aspects of finance. I found that hugely interesting, and I started my career in a more technical function, trading derivatives for JPMorgan Chase in London. It wasn't that I particularly wanted to go into finance – I could have been equally happy in many other sectors – but it just turned out that way, and I was very pleased with that. After my bachelor's degree, I spent some time in the UK for personal reasons, and after JPMorgan Chase, I also worked at Morgan Stanley. I had a whole network in England through my personal life and also through my work. When I was doing my masters, I found myself living in London and studying in Copenhagen – and working all at the same time!

Already a subscriber? Log in.