Pension Veteran Joins Boutique Fund House

(March 18, 2013) — A former CIO of one of Europe’s most sophisticated pension funds has joined a boutique asset manager, which is overseen by one of aiCIO‘s columnists.

Erik Valtonen, formerly CIO of Sweden’s third state pension “buffer” fund, AP3, has joined Blue Diamond Asset Management as CEO, the company announced today.

Angelo Calvello, who has been a columnist for aiCIO for several years, sits on the board of Blue Diamond.

Valtonen left the Swedish buffer fund in 2010 to launch his own consultancy. He took an investment advisory role at the Finnish state pension fund, VER, where he remains on the investment committee. He is to close the consultancy to join Blue Diamond.

“Erik joins us with substantial experience in quantitative investing, derivatives, portfolio construction and management, risk budgeting, and governance. This experience, along with his understanding of our business, will allow him to immediately contribute to our current success and help us build a sustainable, robust business for the future,” Calvello said today. 

Towards the end of 2011, Calvello cited Valtonen in a group of leading asset owners that included Yale’s David Swensen, Howard Pearce of the UK’s Environment Agency, and Leo de Bever from the Alberta Investment Management Corporation.

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