‘I hope to engage in dialogue with the students and to have my own ideas challenged’

Jari Eklund started at the School of Business as an Executive in Residence in the area of cooperatives on 1 August 2026. Before this latest position he worked for 33 years at LähiTapiola, the last of which as group director.

‘I was a board member in the companies of the group operating in Espoo: chair of the board of the asset management company, chair of the board of the car finance company and vice chair in the non-life and life insurance company and the service company.’

Extremely positive experiences of teaching at Aalto

Jari Eklund’s first experiences of Aalto date back just over ten years. In 2015 the entire management of LähiTapiola took part in a customised course for them at Aalto EE. ‘The course taught by (now deceased) Pekka Mattila was absolutely excellent and it reinforced my view that teaching at Aalto is really of a very high standard.’

‘In 2024 we renewed a similar programme; the entire top management of the group and a total of about 100 people took part in a year-long leadership training. The programme also included an international module and once again we gained extremely positive experiences of teaching at Aalto. This time the professor in charge was Timo Vuori.’

Thanks to his excellent experiences with Aalto it was easy for Jari Eklund to say yes when he was asked to succeed Taavi Heikkilä in teaching students about cooperative enterprises and mutual insurance companies.

‘Taavi Heikkilä has built an excellent foundation for this role and it is good for me to continue from here. When Taavi started he had to build everything from scratch, so now it is easier. The course on cooperatives will be in the fourth period in the spring. We will run it together with Professor Iiro Jussila.’

Jari Eklund teaches cooperatives and mutual companies and wants to explain how they differ from other forms of company. In cooperatives the members own the company and in mutual companies the customers own it. ‘It is interesting to discuss how these differences change leadership. It is important to understand the company model, the business model and the ways of operating, if you go to work in such a company or even if you do not but such a company is a competitor.’

The course on cooperatives can also be taken remotely, but Jari Eklund hopes that students will also come on site so that there will be lively interaction. ‘I even look forward to being challenged by young people, as they may have new ideas about insurance companies from younger people’s perspectives. Through discussions I am sure I will learn new things myself too.’

It is worth trying all sorts of things

According to Jari Eklund, it is worth having an open mind right from the start of your career. ‘You never know where and when unexpected doors may open. There is no need to worry even if the first job is not the one you had in your own plans. It is worth trying all kinds of options, because only by trying do you notice what interests and inspires you.’

His own first job was at the University of Vaasa, where he worked for a year. He had previously graduated with a master’s degree in economics and business administration from the same university.

‘It felt like winning the lottery to have a job at the university, even though it was only a part-time position as an advisory assistant. That is how my career began. The university was a good place to start networking.’

Highlights from his career

From the University of Vaasa, Jari Eklund’s career took him to a bank for five years and from there on to an insurance company.

‘While I was working at the University of Vaasa, the university’s CIO left to lead investment research at Kansallis-Osake-Pankki. Only two months after his move in 1987 he called me from KOP and said that the bank was incredibly busy and asked if I would come. That is how my banking career began. I worked for five years in investment research and corporate finance tasks, there were stock exchange listings and various analyses, and a lot of interesting work. That is a vivid example of how networks can lead to surprising roles, and quickly too!

In 1993, Jari Eklund noticed an advertisement in the newspaper in which the then Tapiola was looking for a securities manager. He applied for the position and was selected, which marked the start of the second highlight of his career. ‘An upswing began and for seven years we were almost only going upwards. It was a fine and fun time to make investments. In 1998 I became investment director and a deputy member of the board, so I joined the top management at the age of 35. I was really pleased about that!’

When LähiTapiola was formed from the merger of Lähivakuutus and Tapiola, it took about five years before the group began to function properly and it became clear why the merger had been carried out. A centralised culture met a decentralised culture and the information systems were different, but five years of work bore fruit. The number of customers began to rise and in recent times LähiTapiola has also been gaining market share.

‘As is often the case, there can be a lot of work, but it often eventually pays off. That is the message I also want to convey to students. In addition to my course on cooperatives, I look forward to meeting people from different parts of the School of Business during the autumn and to us finding common interests for our cooperation. Let us see what the future brings. I have no doubt at all that the cooperation will be fruitful and rewarding.’

Further information

Jari Eklund
jari.eklund@aalto.fi

Jari Eklund was interviewed by Terhi Ollikainen.