Subscribe | Log In

Related

Nordea’s New Head of Group Sustainable Finance

Share post:

Stockholm (NordSIP) – Nordea announced the appointment of Anders Langworth as its new Head of Group Sustainable Finance with immediate effect. Langworth has been acting Co-Head of Group Sustainable Finance since Sajsa Beslik left Nordea at the end of June. NordSIP caught up with Langworth to hear about his upcoming plans.

Langworth joined Nordea Life & Pensions in 2011 and has worked as Business Manager, Head of Sales Development and Head of Business Development. Before joining Nordea, Anders spent five years at Citibank and Genworth Financial, holding various leadership and business development positions.

For the past three years, Langworth has had a leading position within Nordea’s sustainability team, together with Ylva Hannestad. Ylva will continue as Deputy Head of Group Sustainable Finance, and become a member in the Group Business Ethics and Values Committee.

“We have a great team with very strong momentum and are determined to take responsible banking to the next level – both in our internal operations and in our customer offering. That enables us to be a strong and relevant bank for both our employees and our customers, now and in the future,” Langworth starts.

“During the last few years, we have experienced strong development. We have grown from a few specific sustainability equity funds to a large number of sustainability funds,” Langworth tells NordSIP. According to him, this has created the possibility to build better portfolios. “We have also integrated sustainability in our savings advisory tool,” he adds.

On the financing side, Langworth points to the growth that has also taken place. “We used to have green bonds; now we have sustainability hybrid bonds, green corporate loans, green mortgages and green car loans. It is important to make it possible for our customer to make sustainable choices.”

“We have also been the only Nordic bank developing the new Principles for Responsible Banking together with UN and 29 banks across the world – this is shaping the future of the sector on a global level,” Langworth tells NordSIP. “It important work and something we are proud of.”

Looking ahead, Langworth tells NordSIP there were two main challenges. First, Nordea’s Group Sustainable Finance will focus on developing customer offerings within the area of responsible banking. “On the offering side, we want to create products and processes that enable the majority of customers to choose sustainable alternatives. We are well on the way, but will accelerate this.”

The second front is to develop and enhance Nordea’s risk management. “We need to have the right data and understanding on how to do scenario analysis of our whole investments and lending portfolios,” Langworth says. According to him, these tools are necessary to understand what is needed to align with the Paris Climate Agreement. “We are now developing models with the UN Environment Programme and other leading banks, to assure that we are aligned and not go in different directions.”

The new Head of Nordea’s Group Sustainable Finance was optimistic about the future of sustainable investments. “The Nordics and the Netherlands are in the lead and rest of Europe is also moving ahead. I hope this will inspire the big actors in the USA and Asia, which have already started to accelerate during the last couple of years.”

Image courtesy of Nordea

From the Author

Recommended Articles