The launch in Finland will be done through a branch of Nordnet’s Norwegian pension company Nordnet Livsforsikring AS, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nordnet Pensionsförsäkring AB. The process started in December 2022 when Nordnet submitted a notification to the Norwegian Finanstilsynet, and is expected to conclude during the second quarter of 2023. Once operations in the new branch commence, Nordnet will launch a new SIP (Savings and Investment Policies) account type.
“Half a million Finnish savers invest through an insurance-based product today and total savings capital amounts to close to EUR 40 billion. The market is dominated by traditional players offering complicated and expensive solutions where savers are mainly presented with in-house funds. I believe that a digital, flexible, and reasonably priced product will make a difference”, says Lars-Åke Norling, CEO of Nordnet.
The SIP-account is similar to the Swedish product “Kapitalförsäkring” in the sense that 101 percent is paid out if the account holder passes away. However, there is no ongoing capital gains tax as tax is paid only when the account holder withdraws money from the account. That way returns and dividends can be reinvested tax-free. The SIP-account is also beneficial for inheritance purposes as, unlike other Finnish account types, transfer to beneficiaries does not trigger any capital gains tax but only inheritance tax. At Nordnet, savers will be able to invest in stocks, mutual funds and ETF’s. Account opening and trading will be completely digital.
”We offer a number of pension and insurance products across our other markets so it feels really great to be able to expand our offering on the Finnish market. We want to build a one-stop shop for savings and investments in all Nordic markets and this is an important milestone in that ambition”, says Lars-Åke Norling, CEO of Nordnet
Kaisa Alamäki will be the Head of Nordnet’s Finnish insurance branch. She has experience in life insurance, fund operations and private banking and has previously worked at AllianceBernstein in Luxemburg and Germany as well as at Mandatum Life and Nooa Säästöpankki in Finland.