Professor of Practice Timo Löyttyniemi looks forward to meeting energetic and active students

Timo Löyttyniemi started at the beginning of this year as a part-time Professor of Practice at the Department of Finance at the School of Business. He continues to serve as the CEO of the State Pension Fund until the end of February (2026). In the future, the new Professor of Practice will also act on the board of Solidium, where he started last August. 

Timo Löyttyniemi is a long-time alum of Aalto and also of the School of Business before that. 

‘I was already involved in the early 1990s when the alumni activities of the School of Business were initiated. Soon, I was also part of the so-called alumni board and served as its chairman for several years. I was an active alum for about 15 years around that time, and I returned to alumni activities later, for example, as an alumni ambassador. I also served in the early stages of Aalto University as a member and chairman of Aalto's investment committee. Now, it's nice to return to the School of Business and look at things from a slightly different perspective.’

Real-world experience feeds into teaching and writing on financial markets

Timo Löyttyniemi is planning to conduct a lecture course in his role as a Professor of Practice, which he will hold for the first time in the autumn of 2026. The course topic relates to the financial stability of the banking system and broader financial markets, including themes such as investments and corporate finance. 

‘To support this lecture course, I have done an extensive review of the fluctuations and crises in financial markets that occurred in 2022 and 2023. I served a five-year term from 2015 to 2019 as the vice-chair of the Single Resolution Board in Brussels, and based on that background, it was easy for me to tackle this theme when energy companies were about to go under, a couple of American banks were about to collapse, etc. This provided me with an interesting platform for analysis, which I have examined and intend to continue writing about. But time will tell how I will divide my time as a working life professor.’

Another research theme for Timo Löyttyniemi is the investment strategies of institutional investors. He has been working on a research paper on this for about a year together with his colleague from the State Pension Fund. 

‘Additionally, I have other topics I have written about over the years. These relate, for example, to ownership, incentive systems and voting shares. They are fascinating and inspiring topics, and I'll see if I continue working on them in my role as a Professor of Practice.’

Timo Löyttyniemi can rightly be described as a very active writer. In addition to working papers, he has also written blog posts regularly over the past five years, totaling around 50. These texts have been published on the ver.fi website of the State Pension Fund.

‘This spring, I will compile a book from the texts, and it will be quite a nice story from the perspective of institutional investing, reflecting how I see the future. I also wrote two guest columns for Kauppalehti last autumn and have agreed on two similar ones for this spring.’

Four career highlights 

Timo Löyttyniemi says he has been very interested in the areas he has later delved into since the early stages of his career. He worked at the Union Bank of Finland (SYP) when the doctoral programme was established there in 1987.

‘I applied to SYP's doctoral program, which I could have applied for even if I hadn't been employed by the bank. I was selected, got an excellent supervisor, and had the opportunity to listen to top global finance professors who came to Finland to speak. I felt that SYP's doctoral program was perfect for me in terms of both time and content. I did my dissertation alongside my job.’

‘Another great thing in my career was receiving the title of director. I found it interesting and sufficient. It was genuinely a very nice thing! Of course, the subjects I have worked on have been the most important thing, both in my role as an investment banker and as the CEO of a listed company at age 35. As an investment banker, I was involved in many interesting advisory tasks for companies in various industries and situations.’ 

The third interesting thing for Timo Löyttyniemi was the years in Brussels as the vice-chair of the Single Resolution Board. ‘We built a 400-person organisation from scratch over five years. During my time, we collected over 30 billion euros in stability fees from banks. Those were fantastic, educational years.’ 

The fourth particularly significant matter in his career, according to Timo Löyttyniemi, is his position as the CEO of the State Pension Fund, which he has held for a long time. ‘I have enjoyed the position very much, but I thought it was still time to do something else.’

Back to the School of Business

Timo Löyttyniemi says he has always thought that working both in academia and in practice would be interesting. 

‘Time will tell how I can now participate in discussions at that interface. Now that I have spoken to people about starting as a Professor of Practice at the School of Business, quite a few have said that it's energizing to work with young people who are already amazingly active and capable.’

‘In addition to meeting students, I look forward to getting to know new colleagues, both Finnish and international. The fact that I already know many School of Business professors from decades ago is certainly very nice, too. Overall, it's really nice to return to Kauppis (the School of Business) again!’ 

Timo Löyttyniemi was interviewed by Terhi Ollikainen