Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – The State Pension Fund of Finland (VER) has appointed Hanna Haavanlammi as the new portfolio manager responsible for hedge funds, succeeding Antti Vartiainen, who joined Elo in May after a 14-year tenure at VER. Haavanlammi joins VER from Finland’s central bank, the Bank of Finland, where she spent more than ten years.
“I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Portfolio Manager for Hedge Funds at Valtion Eläkerahasto – The State Pension Fund of Finland,” Vartiainen announces on LinkedIn. Vartiainen spent her entire career at the Bank of Finland, most recently as Senior Portfolio Manager in the Market Operations Department. In her role, she was involved in the implementation of the European Central Bank’s asset purchase programmes (asset purchase programme – APP – and Pandemic emergency purchase programme – PEPP) on behalf of the Bank of Finland. Vartiainen started her career as a summer trainee in the central bank’s investment division in May 2013.
“I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Portfolio Manager for Hedge Funds at Valtion Eläkerahasto – The State Pension Fund of Finland.”
Hanna Haavanlammi steps into the role previously held by Antti Vartiainen, who oversaw hedge fund investments until his move to Finnish pension insurance company Elo in May this year. The position involves responsibilities related to investments in hedge funds and systematic strategies, as well as derivative activities related to the management of various market risks.
The State Pension Fund of Finland (VER) is one of Finland’s largest institutional investors with an investment portfolio worth €22 billion. VER maintains one of the lowest percentage allocations to hedge funds among Finland’s largest institutional investors. At the end of June, the State Pension Fund of Finland had 4.1 percent of its portfolio invested in hedge funds, totaling €913 million.
VER’s investments in hedge funds and systematic strategies edged down 0.6 percent in the first half of 2023, following a return of 5.0 percent in 2022. Quantitative strategies delivered the strongest performance in the first half of this year. There was a lot of dispersion in returns among the funds employing a multi-strategy approach to investing. The first six months of 2023 also proved particularly challenging for the macro funds in VER’s portfolio. Last year, almost all hedge funds in VER’s portfolio offered strong returns, with the exception of funds focused on Asia and emerging markets.
