FFP #5: Trusted team members from day 1 – and lifelong friends

Goal-oriented, high paced and passionate

Nea Koivumäki (25)

I am a Master’s student at Aalto University School of Business with a major in Accounting and a minor in Finance. I work as an Assistant Analyst in the Portfolio Analysis team, within Institutional Investments, at Nordea.

My team focuses on carrying out portfolio analysis, planning, and reporting to our customers. We do ESG analysis, optimization of risk and return, model development, estimations on volatilities and carry out stress tests for investment portfolios.

In my work, I get to follow market movements closely, and see how they affect different portfolios. I have found this particularly fascinating especially now during this pandemic situation.

The best things …

For me, working on the trading floor has shown what good collaboration can be between different teams in a high paced working environment. It has been inspiring to work in such a passionate atmosphere with goal-oriented professionals. From the beginning, I have been given a lot of responsibilities and had the opportunity to be involved in the work right away. I think it is great that us FFPs are trusted team members from the very start, and we get to really challenge ourselves. This makes the learning curve steep, but rewarding, from day one.

One of the best things about this internship has been the amazing group of FFPs I’ve had the chance to share this experience with. The cherry on the cake of this internship has definitely been all the events and after-work socials we’ve had during the summer. It’s been inspiring to share thoughts and experiences with likeminded people while also having a lot fun along the way!

Learning from the best

Robert Suomi (26)

I hold a degree in MPhil Economics and MA in International Relations. I do macroeconomic research at Nordea, where I closely follow real time developments in international financial markets and politics.

My day typically starts off by writing a morning report outlining some of the key global developments and macroeconomic trends impacting the markets.

For the most part of 2020, main focus has been on coronavirus. At the beginning of 2020, markets were calm and there was a general sense of optimism following some trade agreement breakthroughs between major economic powers. Then the coronavirus entered the scene and hit the markets hard, and at times it seemed as if the crisis would have escalated into something much greater. However, the market recovery has been under way for some time now, and the unprecedented amount of fiscal and monetary stimulus have undoubtedly been one of the key driving forces propping up the economy. My work involves analysing such factors and looking into what the future may bring with it.

I have had the opportunity to learn from some of the leading experts in the field, and gain invaluable practical insights into how things actually work in the world of finance. The journey has been exciting, and I feel lucky to have such fantastic colleagues and fellow FFPs. I feel like I have made some lifelong friends in this short period of time, and hopefully we will stay in touch in the future, wherever our paths may take us next.

Unique opportunities, fast learning and eventful days

Simo Niinimäki (26)

I am currently on my fifth year of studies at Aalto University School of Business, majoring in finance.

At Nordea, I have been working in the Equity Sales team for the past four months executing institutional client orders in Nasdaq OMX Helsinki.

As a passionate retail investor, my biggest interest throughout my studies at Aalto has been equity markets. This summer, I got a unique opportunity to take a deep dive into the micro level of equities and learned a lot on how to utilize different algorithms in order to get the best possible deal execution for clients. On top of that, the abnormal market environment due to COVID-19 has given even more of a twist to my daily work: markets are responding fast to every new piece of information and a day that seems to start calmly can turn out to be a hurricane with high volatility and a lot of action.

One of the best things about working at Nordea has been the people, my colleagues. From day one, I have received a lot of valuable insights about equity markets from experienced colleagues and received a high level of trust. This has allowed me to learn fast and get a feeling that I am an important part of the team.

/Nea, Robert and Simo