Through August, every incoming chief financial officer at a Helsinki issuer since December 2025 already held the title somewhere else. In September, Vincit promoted from its own controlling team and UPM made WISA's interim finance chief permanent. The lateral market did not close: Tieto and Relais both hired sitting finance chiefs, and Terveystalo is now searching for one.
Listeds had recorded at least ten CFO changes across Nasdaq Helsinki and First North between December 2025 and August 2026, and not one incoming finance chief was taking the job for the first time. Last month's roundup ended on whether September would break that run. It did, at the smaller end of the market.
The month's second signal was structural. Viking Line, Kalmar, Terveystalo and the planned UPM and Sappi graphic paper joint venture each redrew an organization in September and named the people to run it. Board-level change stayed thin, and most of it was nomination-board formation for the 2027 annual general meetings rather than turnover in the boardroom itself.
Vincit and WISA broke the lateral run with internal finance appointments
The Digia and Vincit chain that opened in August closed in September. Vincit named a successor on September 01, and went inside to do it. Paula Kuittinen, Head of Management Accounting and Business Control since March 2026 and before that more than 12 years in finance roles at CGI, most recently she has been the Finance Director, now becoming the CFO on November 1. "It is great to be able to appoint our new CFO from within the company," said chief executive Julius Manni.
On September 18, UPM's board appointed Lasse von Hertzen, previously WISA's interim CFO, its permanent Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective when the plywood demerger completes. That finishes a WISA leadership team named in full by the parent's board, with trading expected from November 2.
LapWall took a third route. Tuomo Riihonen's employment ended on September 24, and the next day the company named Tiina Määttä Chief Financial Officer and Legal Officer from October 1. Her record runs through finance and legal advisory roles at Talenom and Greenstep and the chief executive seat at Kymsol Group.
Kempower named Lasse Hatinen on September 9, bringing more than 15 years of finance leadership in listed industrial companies. He joins by March 1, 2027 at the latest, from Metso where he has served as Senior Vice President, Group Controller. Juha Jaatinen, interim since August 13, holds the seat until then.
Larger issuers kept buying finance chiefs who already hold the title
The lateral market remains the default above small cap. Tieto appointed Juuso Pajunen from Terveystalo on September 16, and Terveystalo opened its search the same day. Relais Group appointed Joonas Mäkipeska on September 14 from Technopolis, where he is Chief Financial and Strategy Officer, after CFO roles at Holiday Club Resorts, Sponda and ALD Automotive. Chief executive Christian Gebauer framed the brief as "continued profitable growth, supported by financial discipline, strong cash conversion and investment discipline."
Stora Enso moved the other way on the same theme: on September 17 CFO Niclas Rosenlew was named deputy chief executive to President & CEO Hans Sohlström while keeping the finance role. Tallink appointed Armin Penner as its new CFO on September 8. He has worked for more than six years as CFO and Management Board Member of Circle K Eesti and has also served as CFO of Euroapteek and Ragn-Sells Eesti.
SSH went outside for its chief executive, Arvo went to its own board
September's two listed-issuer CEO appointments took opposite routes. SSH Communications Security named Lars Bell from Omada, where he was Chief Customer Officer and interim chief executive, effective October 1. The share rose 49.5% in the five sessions to September 7. Bell inherits a business whose second-quarter revenue recovered to EUR 5.7 million, up 6.8%, while EBITDA fell 40.7%, and he starts on the same day as CFO Cristian Arias. The third-quarter report will be the first one a rebuilt executive team owns.
Arvo Sijoitusosuuskunta named Teemu Kokko, a member of its board of directors since 2021, deputy chief executive from December and chief executive from April 1, 2027. The selection ran through a nomination committee drawn from the cooperative's supervisory board, one level above the board Kokko sits on. He inherits first-half operating profit of EUR 8.5 million against EUR 6.5 million a year earlier, most of the step-up traced to an approximately EUR 6.9 million gain on the HANZA exit.
Reorganizations, not departures, produced most management-team changes
The month's largest management-team changes came attached to new structures. Kalmar announced plans on September 3 to simplify its operating model by combining divisions. Terveystalo said on September 4 it will report in four segments from 2027, Healthcare Services, Oral Health, Public Partnerships and Sweden, and named Ville Pesonen senior vice president for oral health. Viking Line renewed its management structure on September 8 and established a Viking Leadership Team. UPM and Sappi nominated Gunnar Eberhardt and Stephen Blyth to lead their planned graphic paper joint venture on September 8, and the wider management team on September 14.
Technology seats moved alongside. Aspocomp named Ville Raatikainen Chief Engineering and Technology Officer from January 1, 2027, the second outside hire to its team since July, timed to the phased commissioning of its expanded Oulu plant.
Directors moving into executive roles drove September's committee changes
Only one board chair left. Kari Syrjänen resigned as chair of Biohit on September 2. The two committee changes that followed shared a cause: a director taking an executive job. Tulikivi's audit committee chair Niko Haavisto left the board after becoming CFO of Fiskars, and Panu Paappanen became the chairperson on September 14. At Olvi, director Tarmo Noop left the audit committee to run the Estonian subsidiary A. Le Coq on an interim basis, and board chair Nora Hortling replaced him.
September split the finance pipeline by company size
September broke the lateral CFO run, but only at the smaller end of the market: Vincit and WISA filled their finance seats from inside, while Tieto and Relais kept hiring sitting finance chiefs. At chief executive level, Arvo promoted from its own board and SSH went outside. Most management-team changes followed reorganizations rather than departures. On boards, the committee changes came from directors moving into executive roles, and most other activity was nomination-board formation for 2027. With interim finance cover at Kempower and Relais and an open seat at Terveystalo, the next test is whether larger issuers start filling finance seats from within.
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5 min read
Through August, every incoming chief financial officer at a Helsinki issuer since December 2025 already held the title somewhere else. In September, Vincit promoted from its own controlling team and UPM made WISA's interim finance chief permanent. The lateral market did not close: Tieto and Relais both hired sitting finance chiefs, and Terveystalo is now searching for one.
Listeds had recorded at least ten CFO changes across Nasdaq Helsinki and First North between December 2025 and August 2026, and not one incoming finance chief was taking the job for the first time. Last month's roundup ended on whether September would break that run. It did, at the smaller end of the market.
The month's second signal was structural. Viking Line, Kalmar, Terveystalo and the planned UPM and Sappi graphic paper joint venture each redrew an organization in September and named the people to run it. Board-level change stayed thin, and most of it was nomination-board formation for the 2027 annual general meetings rather than turnover in the boardroom itself.
Vincit and WISA broke the lateral run with internal finance appointments
The Digia and Vincit chain that opened in August closed in September. Vincit named a successor on September 01, and went inside to do it. Paula Kuittinen, Head of Management Accounting and Business Control since March 2026 and before that more than 12 years in finance roles at CGI, most recently she has been the Finance Director, now becoming the CFO on November 1. "It is great to be able to appoint our new CFO from within the company," said chief executive Julius Manni.
On September 18, UPM's board appointed Lasse von Hertzen, previously WISA's interim CFO, its permanent Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective when the plywood demerger completes. That finishes a WISA leadership team named in full by the parent's board, with trading expected from November 2.
LapWall took a third route. Tuomo Riihonen's employment ended on September 24, and the next day the company named Tiina Määttä Chief Financial Officer and Legal Officer from October 1. Her record runs through finance and legal advisory roles at Talenom and Greenstep and the chief executive seat at Kymsol Group.
Kempower named Lasse Hatinen on September 9, bringing more than 15 years of finance leadership in listed industrial companies. He joins by March 1, 2027 at the latest, from Metso where he has served as Senior Vice President, Group Controller. Juha Jaatinen, interim since August 13, holds the seat until then.
Larger issuers kept buying finance chiefs who already hold the title
The lateral market remains the default above small cap. Tieto appointed Juuso Pajunen from Terveystalo on September 16, and Terveystalo opened its search the same day. Relais Group appointed Joonas Mäkipeska on September 14 from Technopolis, where he is Chief Financial and Strategy Officer, after CFO roles at Holiday Club Resorts, Sponda and ALD Automotive. Chief executive Christian Gebauer framed the brief as "continued profitable growth, supported by financial discipline, strong cash conversion and investment discipline."
Stora Enso moved the other way on the same theme: on September 17 CFO Niclas Rosenlew was named deputy chief executive to President & CEO Hans Sohlström while keeping the finance role. Tallink appointed Armin Penner as its new CFO on September 8. He has worked for more than six years as CFO and Management Board Member of Circle K Eesti and has also served as CFO of Euroapteek and Ragn-Sells Eesti.
SSH went outside for its chief executive, Arvo went to its own board
September's two listed-issuer CEO appointments took opposite routes. SSH Communications Security named Lars Bell from Omada, where he was Chief Customer Officer and interim chief executive, effective October 1. The share rose 49.5% in the five sessions to September 7. Bell inherits a business whose second-quarter revenue recovered to EUR 5.7 million, up 6.8%, while EBITDA fell 40.7%, and he starts on the same day as CFO Cristian Arias. The third-quarter report will be the first one a rebuilt executive team owns.
Arvo Sijoitusosuuskunta named Teemu Kokko, a member of its board of directors since 2021, deputy chief executive from December and chief executive from April 1, 2027. The selection ran through a nomination committee drawn from the cooperative's supervisory board, one level above the board Kokko sits on. He inherits first-half operating profit of EUR 8.5 million against EUR 6.5 million a year earlier, most of the step-up traced to an approximately EUR 6.9 million gain on the HANZA exit.
Reorganizations, not departures, produced most management-team changes
The month's largest management-team changes came attached to new structures. Kalmar announced plans on September 3 to simplify its operating model by combining divisions. Terveystalo said on September 4 it will report in four segments from 2027, Healthcare Services, Oral Health, Public Partnerships and Sweden, and named Ville Pesonen senior vice president for oral health. Viking Line renewed its management structure on September 8 and established a Viking Leadership Team. UPM and Sappi nominated Gunnar Eberhardt and Stephen Blyth to lead their planned graphic paper joint venture on September 8, and the wider management team on September 14.
Technology seats moved alongside. Aspocomp named Ville Raatikainen Chief Engineering and Technology Officer from January 1, 2027, the second outside hire to its team since July, timed to the phased commissioning of its expanded Oulu plant.
Directors moving into executive roles drove September's committee changes
Only one board chair left. Kari Syrjänen resigned as chair of Biohit on September 2. The two committee changes that followed shared a cause: a director taking an executive job. Tulikivi's audit committee chair Niko Haavisto left the board after becoming CFO of Fiskars, and Panu Paappanen became the chairperson on September 14. At Olvi, director Tarmo Noop left the audit committee to run the Estonian subsidiary A. Le Coq on an interim basis, and board chair Nora Hortling replaced him.
September split the finance pipeline by company size
September broke the lateral CFO run, but only at the smaller end of the market: Vincit and WISA filled their finance seats from inside, while Tieto and Relais kept hiring sitting finance chiefs. At chief executive level, Arvo promoted from its own board and SSH went outside. Most management-team changes followed reorganizations rather than departures. On boards, the committee changes came from directors moving into executive roles, and most other activity was nomination-board formation for 2027. With interim finance cover at Kempower and Relais and an open seat at Terveystalo, the next test is whether larger issuers start filling finance seats from within.
This is a monthly roundup, consolidating leadership appointments and departures across Nordic listed companies. Individual moves are also covered as standalone articles as signals are confirmed: see Leaders: Leadership moves.
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