Fearnley Asset Management Hires 1 Portfolio Manager From Alfred Berg

Q: After a decade of massive growth, what did Maria Granlund see at Fearnley that her old firm couldn't offer?

She appears to have seen a chance at Fearnley to do something more entrepreneurial: take charge of the Nordic High Yield fund, manage the Fearnley Credit Fund, and build out the firm’s broader credit business in a platform that explicitly says it sees “huge opportunities” for growth. That is the key difference from Alfred Berg. Granlund had already spent 13 years there and helped grow assets under management from roughly NOK 35 billion to NOK 200 billion, while building a strong credit and high-yield operation. At Fearnley, the attraction seems to have been less about joining an established machine and more about getting a mandate to shape the next phase of expansion herself. The timing also matters. After a decade of rapid growth, the Nordic high-yield market has matured from a niche regional segment into a more international and institutional market. In that environment, Fearnley could offer Granlund a leadership role tied directly to that growth story: responsibility for portfolio management, credit leadership, and sales under one roof. So what Fearnley offered that her old firm could not was likely a broader leadership platform and a clearer opportunity to build. Rather than continuing to manage within a business she had already helped scale, she was stepping into a role where she could define and expand Fearnley’s credit franchise at a firm that was still in growth mode.

1 articles · Updated · TradeWinds · Jun 23

Maria Granlund has joined Fearnley Asset Management from Alfred Berg, marking the latest hire for the Norwegian group's investment arm.
Fearnleys tied the move to expansion plans, saying it sees huge opportunities for growth in its asset management division.