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

”The first dream I had was to become a farmer. Everyone in my family has been a farmer as far back as the family history goes, so it was only natural. But it changed when I was around 13 years old. Then I wanted to work in the financial industry as an equity portfolio manager.

I was very goal-oriented very early. The reason I came across the industry at that early age, was because my mother had heard about investing in stocks and believed it was useful for me to learn about.”

How did you learn about it?

”My mother started to subscribe to financial newspapers and magazines and I read about investments and followed the discussions on the market through these papers and magazines. When I was 14 years old I started to invest myself. I also began to notice that all the people I found most interesting had studied at the Stockholm School of Economics, so I decided to study a Master of Science in Business and Economics there. That was my focus for a long time.”

What part of your education have you used the most in your later career?

”The course I found most interesting while studying was derivatives, but I found that to really understand this field, I had to study mathematics. So I took a break from economics and studied math at Uppsala University for two years, before I finished my education in Stockholm.

My dream was to start working with exotic derivatives in London and I was lucky enough at that point to get a job with JP Morgan. At JP Morgan the approach to derivatives is very different from a lot of other banks, because if you’re a sales person in exotic derivatives, it’s not called sales, it’s called marketing to distinguish that it is a quantitative sales role.

So you actually have to come up with a derivative solution as a sales person, and you need to be able to price it and understand the risks and so on. So it was very useful for me to have a more mathematical background. When I was studying economics in Stockholm, I found the focus was more on bringing your intuition and the economic rationale into play, and that has also been very useful in my career.

The two different approaches have actually been a good combination for me.”

Which point on your resumé represents the biggest change in your career?

”After 13 years at JP Morgan I started my own fintech company, and it was obviously a huge change to be in a start-up, rather than a big organization. That was probably a bigger change than anything else I have done..”

What is the best part of the professional position you have today?

”I think the best part is that I can help institutional investors find the right strategy that matches their preferences. This could be the market view, but typically it’s also closely related to portfolio construction. Institutional investors usually face multiple constraints, so my job is to problem solve.”

What kind of constraints could that be?

”It could be that they have a regulator framework or more typically it could be that they have a benchmark. Even if you’re an asset owner like a pension fund, you might have very few constraints, but still the board has decided what risk they want to tolerate. There are constraints on multiple levels and liabilities that they need to match..”

And your job is to figure out how to work around these constraints?

”Exactly. And as a sales person, I need to find the best match for the client and try to focus the resources on both ends to the right solution.”

Is there any leader in your line of business that has inspired you?

”I don’t really have an idol so it’s not an easy answer. But I’ve had the privilige to work for so many years in this field, and I’ve come across so many smart and hardworking people, this being both clients and colleagues. I’ve learned a lot from that and I’m very grateful.”

Right now you most likely have a lot on your plate with the new position at Invesco, but is there anything else that preoccupies you at the moment?

”Honestly, I’ve just been focused on getting up to speed at Invesco, also because I’m new to the asset management industry. I’m trying to figure out what can be done, since I’m still very solutions-oriented. But having been part of a start-up for four years, I’m really excited to be in this industry again and to have this opportunity to work with so many good people. I’m sure if you ask me in one year time, I will have a different answer..”

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