Evli has risen to become the third largest fund management company in Finland in a fund comparison by Investment Research Finland. A key factor behind the rise is the merger of Evli and EAB Group, which has expanded Evli's product and service offering and increased its portfolio management resources.
"Rising to the third largest fund management company in Finland has been a long-term goal for Evli. We have invested in growth both organically and through acquisitions, and we have now succeeded in achieving our goal. On a European scale, it is rare for a medium-sized, non-bank asset manager like Evli to be ranked in the top three in terms of client assets”, says Kim Pessala, CEO of Evli Fund Management Company Ltd.
Growth through EAB merger
EAB Group merged with Evli at the beginning of October 2022, expanding Evli's fund range with, among others, the Elite Alfred Berg Yield Fund, which was voted Finland's best fixed income fund by Morningstar last year. Evli’s fund range now also includes Elite Alfred Berg Logistics Properties non-UCITS Fund, a specialised investment fund focused on logistics real estate. In addition, the range of traditional investment funds grew with the addition of an equity fund and a mixed fund.
The merger also increased Evli's client assets under management and strengthened its specialist, sales and customer service resources in Finland. Evli now has more than 20 people in its portfolio management team in traditional funds and nearly 40 people in alternative investment funds.
Award-winning long-term portfolio management
Evli's long-term growth is driven by high-quality funds and active portfolio management. Evli's traditional fund range currently comprises 35 funds, including four specialised investment funds. As a general rule, Evli's funds are actively managed funds that have performed very well in competitive benchmarks. Responsibility also plays a key role and is integrated into the investment activities of all funds. Evli's five-person responsibility team guides the responsible investing and supports the portfolio managers in implementing ESG integration. Evli has been publishing quarterly ESG reports for its funds since 2017 – the first in Finland.
"At Evli, we have always placed a great emphasis on portfolio management, because high-quality portfolio management has been perceived as the only way to succeed. Over the past ten years, we have increasingly integrated responsibility into our portfolio management processes, and have been praised for this by our clients1. Becoming the third largest fund management company is also a testament to our long-standing client expertise and our commitment to putting clients first - offering only the best to support a sustainable future", says Kim Pessala.
Investment Research Finland (Suomen Sijoitustutkimus Oy) is Finland's leading provider of investment portfolio performance measurement and consolidation reporting services, as well as asset manager selection and financial training services. Its fund report covers traditional investment funds as well as specialised investment funds. Other alternative investment funds are not covered by the report.
For more information:
Kim Pessala, Head of Institutional Wealth Management, Evli Plc, tel: +358 9 4766 9141, kim.pessala@evli.com
1 Evli is rated the best asset manager in Finland for responsible investment in the SFR Scandinavian Financial Research Institutional Investment Services Finland 2021 and 2022 surveys.
