Published: February 7, 2012
Henrik Normann has never been afraid of change. As CEO of the Nordic Investment Bank, he’ll have plenty of opportunity to prove it.
In April Henrik Normann will be crowned one of the most important bankers in the Nordic-Baltic region. The Dane, who is currently head of Danske Bank’s investment banking division, has been named as the next chief executive and president of the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB).
The institution supports the region’s economic development through backing infrastructure and sustainability projects. Normann takes over at a time when this role has never been more important.
Prior to the financial crisis, NIB worked with commercial banks to fund the region’s infrastructure projects. This is no longer the case.
“Commercial banks cannot maintain long-term funding,” Normann tells EMEA Finance. “Therefore, organisations such as NIB are crucial to complete some of the region’s big communication, infrastructure and pollution-fighting projects.”
Taking a lead role in such projects will not be a problem for NIB. In January, the bank strengthened its balance sheet by raising US$1.25bn through a five-year bond. If needed, the lender, rated AAA by Moody’s and Standards & Poor’s, should be able to raise additional funds after this deal received orders of more than US$2bn.
Listen up
NIB, which is owned by eight countries in the region, including Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Lithuania, has a clearly defined mandate: to increase the competitiveness of the Nordic-Baltic region through infrastructure, technology and sustainability development.
When it makes an investment decision it has to satisfy one of these aims. This will not alter under Normann’s leadership, but the institution will change.
“If you have an organisation that is well run it needs to move with changes in the environment,” Normann says. “In my view, an organisation has to constantly change to adapt.”
To assess how the organisation should change, Normann will turn to its own employees when he succeeds Johnny Åkerholm in April. He believes that the best way to assess a new organisation and the direction of the market is to listen: “It is natural that you listen to the staff, listen to your shareholders and listen to your customers.”
From there Normann and his senior management will decide on the bank’s strategy. This is something the incoming chief executive and president has experience of. During his time at Danske Bank, where he sat on the executive committee since 2001, he led several change projects.
He believes his expertise in commercial, wholesale and investment banking alongside his experience of industrial development in the Nordic-Baltic region helped him secure his new role. “I know the region, I know the customers and I know the funding story,” he says.
Normann has an important task, but even in a challenging banking market he believes NIB is well placed to take the strain. “We can put a footprint on the economic development in the Nordic-Baltic region,” he says.