Strategy changes at Finnish pension fund Yle

In the almost six years since his appointment as CEO of Yleisradion eläkesäätiö, Topi Piela has most definitely left his mark on the Finnish pension fund. Increased equity risk and more diversification are some the main changes during his tenure.

“When I started, I decided that we had to diversify as much as possible into several different asset classes,” says Topi Piela. “When searching for new mandates, new instruments or new investment classes, we’re always looking at where we can find as high returns as equities are yielding in the long run. If we can find that by doing our jobs as good as possible, the whole portfolio will yield rather high returns while the actual risk level will be rather low.” He notes that this is especially important as a corporate pension fund to ensure that the company doesn’t