By Helene Auramo

Hello!
Monday is here again, which means it’s time for Listeds Pulse Nordic — your Monday briefing on the most relevant leadership shifts shaping Finland’s listed companies. We’re also close to rolling out Swedish coverage, so stay tuned. 🙂

Coverage window: 15–21 September 2025: 10 management-team changes,1 board changes

This week at a glance

• Board seats: One change recorded. Carl Haglund stepped down from the KH Group board after being appointed CEO.

• Management benches: 10 moves. Net tone: more exits/role removals (6) than appointments (4), with interim titles popping up more than usual.

Spotlight case: Aktia’s record-speed CEO U-turn

Last week’s coffee-table topic deserves a tight recap:

• Leadership flip. Aktia Bank had proudly announced Carl Haglund as its next CEO in June — but in a dramatic twist, the board decided last Monday (15 Sep) that he “no longer fulfills the prerequisites required to act as the company’s CEO.” Haglund has stepped down effective immediately.

• Interim stability. Anssi Huhta will stay on as interim CEO — which means two out of five of Aktia’s top posts now have interim roles.

• Backstory. Just three months earlier, Aktia’s board had hailed Haglund as a visionary leader with the right mix of political and corporate experience to drive its Momentum strategy forward. His sudden exit leaves the bank once again in transition.

• Why it matters: Ultra-short leadership stints (in this case Carl Haglund didn’t officially even start) raise governance and communication questions and can shake investor confidence — even if operations remain stable. The speed here is among the fastest CEO about-faces we’ve seen in Finnish PLCs.

• Context thread: Earlier this summer we flagged another unusually short tenure — Dovre Group’s six-week chair and a new board member both replaced at an EGM. While circumstances differ, both cases remind us that influential shareholders can catalyze rapid leadership resets. One link between the companies: major shareholder Erkki Etola.

Carl Haglund appointed CEO of KH Group

Effective 19 September 2025, Carl Haglund has been named Chief Executive Officer of KH Group. Haglund transitions from the KH Group board to the CEO role, while continuing as Chair of subsidiary Nordic Rescue Group. He succeeds Ville Nikulainen, who steps down immediately but will support KH Group’s transformation until the end of 2025.

Anne-Mari Matikainen appointed Interim CFO of Bioretec

Anne-Mari Matikainen has been named Interim Chief Financial Officer and joins Bioretec’s Management Team. She brings over 16 years of experience in finance, treasury, and consulting, and previously served as CFO of Springvest Oyj. Before this, she held roles at Deloitte Finland, KPMG Finland, Cargotec, and PwC.

By the numbers: Interim momentum

This month in Finland, interim leaders are everywhere — including fresh appointments at Aktia and Bioretec.

How common? In our Finnish dataset, about 6.1% of publicly listed companies currently have an interim in their management team — and the share is rising.

Why it matters: Interims bring stability during leadership gaps, give boards and management teams time to run thorough searches, and can deliver fast, goal-oriented results. Many seasoned executives even prefer interim roles for the challenge and flexibility.

What we’re watching: Will today’s interim tags convert to permanent by year-end — and how long will the searches take?

From our side: This month, we also supported Adecco Finland in filling several interim positions. If you’re looking for interims — either within listed companies or from our 200+ leader interim pool — we’re here to help. CTA

Open leadership positions

Director, Wärtsilä Marine Marketing and Communications. Read more here.
Director, Pricing and revenue management, Metsä Board. Read more here.

Do you know of any open management team or board positions? Let us know