Women in Finance – Hrefna Ösp Sigfinnsdóttir

Hrefna Ösp Sigfinnsdóttir is the managing director of Asset Management & Capital Markets at Landsbankinn in Iceland. Hrefna worked as a fund manager for Arev Securities from 2007 before joining Landsbankinn. Between 1998-2006 she worked as an analyst and headed the listing division at Nasdaq OMX. She has also previously worked as the head of retail banking at Fjárvangur (former Skandia) and in the Central Bank of Iceland’s monetary policy division. Hrefna has served on the board of directors of several companies both in Iceland and abroad, and lead the foundation of IcelandSIF.

WHAT DID YOU DREAM OF BECOMING AS A CHILD? I was raised in a household that emphasised equality and education above all. I was always certain that I would attend university, though not in the same fields as my parents. My mother has a PhD in biology and she specialised in ichthyology, whereas my father is a minister, specialising in pastoral psychology and care. He has worked as a hospital priest for many years. I was interested in finance from an early age and enjoyed creating stores and selling to my family or in school. Another favourite game was playing