The Finnish government has now followed a similar strategy to its neighboring countries, calling to cancel all public events exceeding 500 participants until the end of May and has recommending that people work from home. In addition, the government is supporting research for the development of a vaccine against coronavirus with EUR 5 million and putting aside funds for dealing with the epidemic. Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced the government's protective measures today at a press conference, and will continue making plans for a more serious epidemic later today. CIOs Mikael Lundström of Evli Fund Management and Mika Leskinen of FIM Asset Management say that a lockdown situation in Finland will not complicate the everyday work of a fund manager. Leskinen highlights that at FIM, each portfolio manager can use the systems needed for daily fund management work at home. “All of our work can also be done remotely. We have numerous means of communication so a lockdown situation is not a problem. We have all the necessary resources and have also checked that they work,” Leskinen notes. Lundström says Evli has a plan to keep business operations running smoothly in exceptional situations, which it has already been following for several months. “When it comes to portfolio management at Evli, it is completely feasible to work remotely, so if necessary we have the means to manage our funds from other locations as well as Evli’s offices,” Lundström says. Varma: Growth will slow down Earlier today, Varma's CEO commented on the announcement by US president Donald Trump, where he suspended flights from Europe to the United States. “As a whole, the decisions and the things that have already happened in China and Northern Italy mean that economic growth globally will slow down notably, and we do not know how long the exceptional situation will last,” says CEO of Varma Risto Murto to state broadcaster YLE. “From my point of view, the scale of this reminds me of the financial crisis and in some parts of the world, the economy has already come to a sudden halt,” he adds.
This post originally appeared on AM Watch.
