Lauri Ehanti is leaving Aalto University’s endowment fund after 14 years in various roles, most recently as Head of Investments. His responsibilities will be handed over to Deputy Head of Investments, Lauri Ström, while Ehanti prepares to take on a new role later this year.
“It has been a privilege to be a part of building the endowment and funding Aalto University,” Ehanti shares on LinkedIn. “The investment portfolio is in good shape and the team – Lauri Ström, Filip Hintze, and Alex Ahlroth – is top notch. I will follow with interest all the great things they will achieve,” he continues. “I am taking some time off before starting in a new role later in the year.”
“It has been a privilege to be a part of building the endowment and funding Aalto University.”
Lauri Ehanti
As Head of Investments, Ehanti was responsible for managing the university’s €1.5 billion investment portfolio, overseeing its investment strategy, selecting and monitoring external managers, and leading the internal investment team. He stepped into the role at the beginning of 2025, succeeding Iivo Paukkeri, who left to join the family investment company of Finland’s wealthiest individual, Antti Herlin, and his children.
Over his 14-year tenure, Ehanti held several positions, including Senior Portfolio Manager focusing on hedge funds, alternative credit, and private equity, as well as Portfolio Manager with responsibility for long-only equity and private equity manager selection.
Aalto University’s endowment exists to generate stable annual funding to support the university’s strategic goals in education, research, and innovation. In 2024, the endowment contributed €41 million to the university’s operations, covering around 9 percent of its annual budget.
The €1.5 billion investment portfolio maintains a significant allocation to diversifying strategies such as trend-following, systematic risk premia, equity market-neutral, global macro, relative value, and arbitrage strategies. At the end of 2024, these strategies accounted for 18.1 percent of the portfolio, delivering a return of 7.3 percent for the year and an annualized 5.5 percent over the past five years.
