Can you tell us briefly about your background?
I started working as an associate for Bankers Trust International in London and worked on the risk side of the equity traded options desk. I then moved onto risk consulting for the bank's clients before our team moved over to do the same at Tokai Bank Europe - also in London. After moving to Norway in 2001 I was fortunate to move over to the bond issuance side at Kommunalbanken where I worked on the international funding desk.
What brought you to Eksportfinans?
I accepted an offer to join the Eksportfinans funding team in 2005 as it was well known for its innovativeness and proactive approach to investor communication. I became head of funding in 2007 and have been privileged to work with an amazing team of dedicated professionals through thousands of individual bond issues - both structured and plain vanilla.
How do you see your new role in the current situation?
Clearly a great deal has changed for Eksportfinans since the government announced the establishment of a new state entity which would take over our agency function. Initially I spent most of my time on investor communication before being offered this new role. Having more than 20 years of experience from the capital markets I felt that broadening that with responsibility for the loan portfolio as well as joining the management group would be a considerable challenge.
What areas will be important to you in the next six months?
The way I look at the situation is that even though Eksportfinans is no longer in the markets, we are still one of the largest financial institutions in Norway and my new department is the custodian of our "crown jewels". We have a very high quality loan portfolio of around NOK 112 billion as well as a debt portfolio of around NOK 165 billion. We will be doing our utmost to ensure that there are no surprises and that these valuables are managed according to plan. We will also continue to have regular communication with clients and investors.