On June 1st, Mia Nyberg, formerly the COO of Storebrand Fonder in Sweden, transitioned to a new role as its CEO. This is a brand-new step in Mia's career, after undertaking many important operational and executive roles for more than a decade. Here, she shares some thoughts on her career and the future of the company.
When did sustainability become a part of your career?
It has always been a vital aspect of my work. I have been working in finance most of my career, and finance has been a driver of sustainability for so long. Sustainability in my work got an even more significant role when I started working at Storebrand. Sustainability is such an integral part of our business model and ways of working here. Once you understand the power and relevance of sustainability in asset management, there is no turning back.
On a personal level, nature and more specifically the ocean has always been a huge part of my life. I have been sailing for as long as I can remember, and I cannot imagine a world without healthy oceans.
What are your priorities as you begin in this new role?
Storebrand Fonder is in a good place. The company had a fantastic performance in recent years, and I am excited to take over this journey and lead it to the next frontier. Being part of a Nordic finance group that has both visions and ambitions has enabled us to launch our funds in several new markets. Our Plus concept of index-aware funds is very sought after outside of Sweden, so providing them to a wider audience is also a continued priority for me.
Storebrand focuses on "value beyond return". What does this mean, from your point of view?
Sustainability for me as the CEO of Storebrand Fonder, is about ensuring the best long-term risk-adjusted return for our clients. We cannot remove the "eco" from the economy. The same goes for other social or governance issues. It is all interlinked, and a prerequisite for healthy long-term portfolios.
What are the biggest challenges within sustainability?
Science says change! Scientific facts all point in the same direction: We need massive mobilisation of private sector capital to shift companies and their activities towards entirely new systems of value creation that are aligned with sustainability. For investors, that means both investing in solutions, as well as taking on stewardship responsibilities.
Change, however, does not come easy, it will be difficult and may come at a cost, but the failure of inaction will be worse. We simply must continue advocating for the importance of sustainability and the favourable conditions it creates for positive value development.
What's inspiring you at the moment?
My colleagues inspire me every day. We have a fantastic pool of people to learn from on a day-to-day basis, on very broad asset management and geopolitical issues, as well as on very detailed sustainability topics and regulatory challenges.
I also listen to a variety of podcasts to broaden my view on topics ranging from leadership and management to life experiences and sustainability. I tend to go outside our own business to get new perspectives. For example, I listen to the Swedish podcast Sommar i P1 with a variety of interesting profiles ranging from actors to business leaders, scientists, artists, athletes, writers, journalist, sharing perspectives on their life and experiences.
A person that inspires me is Ellen MacArthur who, in 2005 broke the world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the world. She is also founder of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Beyond the interest in sailing, I share the same passion she has for healthy oceans and a circular economy.
