Alumni Ambassador Timo Löyttyniemi: More important than getting good grades is to be eager to learn a wide range of things

When and what did you study at Aalto University School of Business?

I started my studies in 1982, majoring in economics. I graduated with the master’s degree in 1986 and with the doctoral degree in 1992.

In my postgraduate studies, I focused on finance and did my doctoral thesis on the corporate decisions on capital structure.

What jobs have you held since graduation?

I started as a financial analyst in 1987, and the first ten years after that I acted as an advisor in corporate funding decisions in two consolidated corporations, SYP and KOP, and in investment banks Prospectus and Mandatum.

Between these positions, I acted as the managing director of Norvestia Plc. Last years before my current position in Brussels, I worked as the managing director of the State Pension Fund until 2015.

I have also sat in many companies’ and foundations’ boards and in investment committees.

What do you currently do?

I am the Vice Chair at the Single Resolution Board (SRB) in Brussels. The Board is in charge of the crisis resolution of the banking sector in the eurozone and drafts resolution plans for banks in acute crises, such as the Banco Popular’s case last summer in Spain.

In addition, we take care of the establishing of the Single Resolution Fund, which has been set up to ensure that financial support is available as a last resort. Our goal is to collect 55 billion euros in the near future, and so far we have reached the level of 17 billion euros.

The operation of the SRB was established in 2015, and within three years we have recruited almost 300 people and set up all basic functions.

In what ways have the studies been useful for your career?

I was interested in economics and finance, and wanted to learn more. Those subjects gave me a good basis to understand things.

In the working life, however, I have noticed that the combination of several subjects is the key to be able to work efficiently. More important than getting good grades is to be eager to learn a wide range of things already during your studies, but also afterwards.

How do different hobbies and activities affect one’s career path?

I played basketball in the KY’s team and participated actively in student union activities. I was a member in KY’s representative body and board, and in the School of Business council and board.

From all of these, I acquired friends who I have met also later on in different situations, and experience that has been useful in my career.

Now that I have been abroad for three years, I appreciate better the small circles in Finland. It is a great richness, which you long for abroad.

One of my previous superiors used a saying: “The situations and choices arrive like trains at the station. Whether you jump in or not, there will always be a next one."

Thoughts on the business world? What are the current issues and challenges at your workplace?

The changes in the business world are constant and the change is also a permanent state of affairs. Digitalization is mixing the industries and our way of working. The young have good tools for the future, since they can understand new technologies better than the ones who have been in the working life already longer.

At my workplace in Brussels, I have noticed that the growth and advancement usually mean three steps forward and sometimes a step backwards. Thus, the ability to change is a critical asset, and the word ’agility’ is a good term to describe the true way of working amidst all the changes.

Many students worry about finding their first job in the field. Do you have any advice for them?

Make the use of the internships during your studies. Although the right path may not be found through there, it is a good place to start forming your own path.

One of my previous superiors used a saying: “The situations and choices arrive like trains at the station. Whether you jump in or not, there will always be a next one.” However, the searching of your path requires being active and enthusiastic about your own thing, whatever it is.

You act as Alumni Ambassador at the School of Business. What does being an alumnus mean to you?

I have always valued the School of Business and my experience of it. The School of Business is by far the leading business institution in Finland.

It was natural for me to join the student union activities already during my first study years, and the alumni activities became a natural continuation to it. I have always been willing to come to the School and discuss different things.

Since I got to know my wife at the School and because we met in the student union activities, I have a wide network of former School of Business students around me, which I appreciate a lot.

It is important to build and maintain the sense of community, especially our School of Business identity within the Aalto University identity. Aalto University School of Business community is its own club – you can always make it stronger without the fear of reducing the power of Aalto University as a whole. On the contrary, our School of Business community will only affect positively the Aalto University community.

Further information:

Currently, Löyttyniemi is the CEO of The State Pension Fund of Finland (2020).

Get to know Timo Löyttyniemi’s career path more closely on LinkedIn!

Read more about the School of Business alumni cooperation and about the other Alumni Ambassadors who, like Timo Löyttyniemi, are involved in developing the School’s alumni activities: www.aalto.fi/school-of-business/school-of-business-alumni-ambassadors.