Boards were quieter than at any point since the spring meetings. The month's only board departure happened because a director took a finance job.
According to Listeds data, Nordic listed companies recorded 30 board and management changes in July, down from 69 in June. Boards accounted for 2 — one appointment and one departure, against 18 recorded in June. Management teams recorded 28: 8 appointments, 16 departures, four role changes, nearly half of June's 51.
The drop is seasonal. What sits underneath it is not.
On 24 July, Finnair announced that Pia Aaltonen-Forsell was leaving as finance chief and that Jussi Siitonen would take the role from 1 November. On the same day, Valmet named Aaltonen-Forsell as its own next CFO, starting at the latest at the end of January 2027.One move, disclosed from both ends, three minutes apart.
Follow it in both directions and five Helsinki-listed companies sit on the same line.
Fiskars Group disclosed on 24 June that Siitonen, its CFO and deputy to the chief executive, would leave after August. Niko Haavisto, previously CFO at Nokian Tyres and CapMan, took the Fiskars finance role on 10 August. Siitonen went to Finnair on 1 November, and resigned from Finnair's board on 24 July to take it. Aaltonen-Forsell goes to Valmet, replacing Katri Hokkanen, who leaves at the end of September after nearly four years in the role and close to twenty years at the company. Hokkanen goes to Kalmar on 1 October, replacing Sakari Ahdekivi, who steps down on 30 September and stays in a transition role to 31 December. Ahdekivi is now among the proposed board members of WISA Group, the plywood business UPM is demerging.
Election to the WISA Group board is conditional on UPM's extraordinary general meeting of 31 August 2026 and completion of the demerger is expected on or about 31 October 2026.
Five companies. Four finance vacancies, each filled from another listed company — and the chain ends at a board seat.
“There is no shortage of Finnish finance chiefs. There is just a short list, and every board most likely knows who is on it.” Helene Auramo CEO, Listeds The disclosure sequence is worth noting on its own. Fiskars named Siitonen's exit on 24 June; Finnair named his destination on 24 July. A departing company discloses the vacancy roughly a month before the hiring company discloses the hire. Under the Nasdaq Helsinki inside-information regime that is the system working as intended, and it means the market reads a single move in two instalments — usually without knowing, at the first instalment, which company is at the other end. August and completion of the demerger is
The gaps the chain leaves behind Orderly on paper, the sequence opens holes.
Valmet's finance chief leaves at the end of September. Her successor arrives at the latest at the end of January 2027. No interim arrangement is disclosed — a stretch of up to four months at the top of finance in a company weighing a two-company split.
Bioretec's Tuukka Paavola left with immediate effect on 2 July, six months after taking the role. Controller Anna-Mari Venola holds the duties on an interim basis while recruitment runs.
SSH Communications Security is the tightest case. Michael Kommonen held the finance role until the end of July. Cristian Arias, from Neural DSP Technologies, starts by 1 October at the latest. Cover for August and September is not disclosed. It is also the company's second appointment to that seat this year: Maria Alahuhta was named in April, and in June the company disclosed she would not take it up. Separately, on 17 July, SSH announced that Rami Raulas will retire as chief executive and that the board has opened a search. He remains in post until a successor is appointed.
Reaktor Group, listed on Nasdaq Helsinki's main market since June, named Antti Akkanen — currently finance chief of Ahlsell's Finnish operations — from 1 October, succeeding Ilkka Kosola, who leaves at the end of September. That one is covered end to end.
Boards: the quietest month since spring Two of July's board changes bear on this story.
Telia Company's extraordinary general meeting on 2 July elected Susanne Blanke, VP AI Strategy and Transformation at Husqvarna Group, as a new director. The other was Siitonen leaving Finnair's board for its finance seat.
Betolar's nomination committee proposed Rainer Peltoniemi on 10 July; shareholders elected him on 7 August, expanding the board from six to seven. Vibeke Krohn became Betolar's president and chief executive on 1 August, succeeding Tuija Kalpala.
The month's heaviest governance item is not yet a change. On 16 July, UPM proposed the board of WISA Group: Tapio Korpeinen as chair, with Ahdekivi, Frank Herrmann, Nina Kiviranta, Mats Nordlander and Emmanuelle Picard as members. Korpeinen is UPM's own finance chief and leaves its group executive team on 31 December. The election is conditional on UPM's extraordinary general meeting of 31 August and on the demerger completing, expected on or about 31 October, with trading in WISA Group shares expected to start on or about 2 November.
