Panu Mikkonen takes over as Bioretec's fourth CFO in just over a year

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company was named Defence Owner of the Year 2026 on Monday evening at Valkoinen Sali in Helsinki, at the first Listeds Investor Event – Defence. The award is new, and so is the thing it measures. Not how much an institution owns, but what it has done with the ownership.

Finland has prizes for companies and prizes for chief executives. Owners have gone unrewarded.

“In Finland we reward companies and executives, but not owners. We wanted to create a category that measures an owner's actions: where the capital went, and what was done with the ownership”

The jury scored what Ilmarinen did, not what it held

The jury was chaired by Tiina Olkkonen, founder and chair of IR Partners, and included Sanna Andersson of Euroclear Nordics, Kyösti Jurvelin of Talouselämä and Klaus Ilmonen of Hannes Snellman.

Three things decided it. Ilmarinen anchored Reaktor's listing earlier this year and is now the company's largest institutional owner. It joined a funding round for the unlisted ICEYE. And it sits on the shareholders' nomination boards of roughly 40 Finnish listed companies every year, which is a direct lever on who ends up in those boardrooms.

“Defence capability is not created by public defence spending alone. Behind it you need competitive companies, innovation and patient private capital. In a changed security environment, institutional investors have an important role in making sure that defence and dual-use innovations born in Finland have the conditions to grow into internationally successful companies. That is why we wanted to reward an owner that does not merely invest in the sector but, through its own actions, is helping to build it.”

That last point is the one the jury kept returning to. Defence and dual-use companies are growing quickly, and the competence their boards need is moving just as fast.

Eight companies pitched, five of them listed

Gofore, Kesla, Savox Communications and Aspocomp Group, all on Nasdaq Helsinki, and Betolar from Nasdaq First North pitched the defence and dual-use side of their businesses to a room of professional investors. Audicin, Njord and AGATE Sensors followed in the growth round with three minutes each.

Martti Wallin, venture partner at Sparkmind Capital and a past chairman of the Association of Finnish Defence and Aerospace Industries, opened the evening with a conversation on what investors and leaders get wrong about defence.

Two stock exchange releases at 9:00 a.m. on 16 September moved one CFO between two Helsinki large caps that had cut guidance two days apart in July. Terveystalo named no successor and opened the search the same day — twelve days after handing Pajunen a second executive brief. Tieto filled the seat with a sitting CFO, which is the only way the job has been filled in Finland since December 2025.

Terveystalo and Tieto published matching stock exchange releases at 9:00 a.m. EEST on 16 September 2026. Pajunen, Terveystalo's Chief Financial Officer since November 2022, leaves on 15 December 2026 and joins Tieto by 1 January 2027 at the latest, reporting to Endre Rangnes. Terveystalo named no successor and opened the search the same day. The same Tieto release confirmed Johan Enger Nygaard at Tieto Tech Consulting and Bent Philipps at Tieto Indtech from 1 October, both interim since May 2026. 

Tieto's last first-time CFO is leaving; the next one arrives with the title

In August, Listeds counted atleast ten CFO changes across Nasdaq Helsinki and First North between December 2025 and August 2026. Every incoming CFO already held the title at another listed company. None was promoted from inside. None was taking the job for the first time. 

Tomi Hyryläinen, who steps down at the end of December 2026 after nearly eight years, joined Tieto in 2018 from PwC Finland, where he had been an assurance leader and partner. Tieto was his first listed-company CFO seat. Tieto has now filled it with a CFO already running finance at another Helsinki large cap, and before that at AFRY and Pöyry Group. 

Terveystalo widened Pajunen's job twelve days before losing him

Terveystalo reports in three segments today: Healthcare Services, Portfolio Businesses and Sweden. On 4 September it said Portfolio Businesses would be split from 1 January 2027, with Oral Health and Public Partnerships each becoming a reportable segment in their own right, and named Pajunen EVP of Portfolio Businesses until the end of 2026. He was covering for Henri Mäenalanen, who had announced on 29 June that he was leaving on 1 October to run Yliopiston Apteekki. Twelve days after taking the second brief, Pajunen announced his own exit. 

The date lands inside a crowded quarter. The EUR 574 million Silmäasema acquisition is expected to close by late 2026 or in the first quarter of 2027, the four-segment reporting starts on 1 January, and the Shareholders' Nomination Board must deliver its proposals by 1 February 2027. The CFO search runs across all of it.

Ville Iho put it in the company's own words: "Juuso has played a key role in the implementation of Terveystalo's profit improvement program and significant acquisitions, as well as in the development of financial leadership.”

One balance sheet is being levered up, the other handed back

Terveystalo reported first-half revenue of EUR 601.5 million, down 10.0%, adjusted operating profit of EUR 59.8 million, down 29.3%, and earnings per share of EUR 0.24, down 44.4%. On 15 July it cut 2026 adjusted operating profit guidance to EUR 120–140 million from EUR 135–165 million, against EUR 156.3 million delivered in 2025. It has raised its leverage ceiling to 3x net debt to adjusted EBITDA, cut dividend distribution to at least 50% of net result, and committed EUR 275 million in cash plus 36,500,000 new shares to Silmäasema, roughly 22.4% of shares outstanding after completion. 

Tieto reported second-quarter revenue of EUR 426.6 million, down 7.9%, with adjusted operating profit up 45.1% to EUR 63.4 million and margin at 14.9% against 9.4%. It cut its organic growth outlook on 17 July to between –5% and –3% and held the margin range at 14.8–15.8%. 

At Tieto he set the brief himself: "Tieto has a strong position in technological transformation and is well positioned for digital opportunities. At the same time, both Tieto and the entire industry are undergoing rapid changes, driven by AI. I am excited to join this fast-paced industry and believe that, with my broad experience across multiple businesses, I can contribute to the execution of Tieto’s ambitious strategy. As a CFO, I will focus on ensuring profitable growth and value creation while I believe that it all starts with culture."