Nasdaq Baltic Evening in Helsinki

24.04.2024 RIG, TLN, VLN

Kaarel Ots, Head of Nasdaq Baltic Exchanges, along with his team and representatives of six Estonian listed companies visited Finland to present their activities to the Finnish investors at the exclusive Helsinki Bourse Club.

Tuesday, April 9 marked an historic day for Nasdaq Baltic, when Kaarel Ots, Head of Nasdaq Baltic Exchanges, together with his team, journalists, and representatives of six Estonian listed companies crossed the sea to Finland to present their activities to the Finnish investors at the exclusive Helsinki Bourse Club.

The Helsinki Bourse Club has a rich and noble history. It was founded in 1910 and operates in the rooms in which the old Helsinki stock exchange used to operate. The closed club has strict rules: Normally, it can be accessed only by the club members, and the dress code requires men to wear a jacket and a tie, which all add to the occasion.

The main room of the Bourse Club – the restaurant – comfortably fits around 120 people and these seats were filled quickly thanks to the help of the Finnish Shareholders Association who helped to promote the Baltic event.

The 2-hour program included a Baltic market overview delivered by Kaarel, followed by a 15-minute pitch by each listed company. The evening was concluded by a local Danske Bank representative giving an overview of how Finnish investors can access the Baltic securities market.

As a fun fact, Kaarel Ots started his presentation in Finnish and mentioned that he used to watch “Ritari Ässä” („Knight Rider“) on Finnish TV as a child. The subsequent introductions of listed companies – including Tallink Grupp, EfTEN Real Estate Fund, Harju Elekter, Coop Pank, Port of Tallinn, and Enefit Green – also mainly started with a few sentences in Finnish. In addition, half of Tallink Grupp’s presentation was made by board member Margus Schults, who delivered his full presentation in fluent Finnish.

A couple of take-aways from the event:

– A Finnish investor is not afraid of geopolitical risks, but would be more willing to invest in the Baltics if the stock market had more depth and (state) companies.

– The problematic side in the Baltic region and on the stock exchanges is liquidity. And related to this is the paradox that, on the one hand, more investors would provide liquidity, but on the other hand, the investor wants liquidity.

– Government should market investing even more. This has also been done in Finland. The goal of the state should be that people want to be owners and that its own role and participation in companies is as small as possible.

– Spring time gave companies a good opportunity to talk about dividends. Sari Lounasmeri, head of Pörssisäätiö, an organization that promotes the development of the Finnish investor community, pointed out that this is a language that speaks to the average Finnish investor.