Management

Fellow Bank's Board of Directors consists of six members with long experience in banking and board work.

The operational management of the company is led by the CEO and assisted by the Management Team.

Board of Directors

Markku Pohjola

Chairman of the Board

Born 1948. Education: B.Sc. (Econ.)
Chairman of the Board as of 2 April 2022. He is also Chairman of the Board of Rangunkorpi Oy and a member of the Board of Boardman Oy.
He has served in a number of executive positions at Nordea and its predecessor banks, including as Deputy Group CEO of Nordea Bank AB and CEO of Nordea Bank Finland Plc. He has also served as the Chairman of the Boards of Municipality Finance Plc, Finnvera Plc, Tieto Plc and Posti Group Corporation.
Independent of the company and major shareholders.

Lea Keinänen

Member of the Board

Born 1966. Education: graduate in business and marketing and MBA.
Member of the Board as of 2 April 2022. She has been a member of the Board of Evli Fund Management Company Ltd since 2020 and previously in 2006–2017. She is also a member of the Board of Frelea Oy and a member of the Board of the Finnish Cultural Foundation and Chair of its Finance Committee. She has had a long career at Evli Bank Plc and had been in charge of, for example, the Wealth Management unit as a member of the Executive Group and as Deputy to the CEO.
Independent of the company and major shareholders.

Kai Myllyneva

Member of the Board

Born 1969. Education: M.Sc. (Econ.)
Member of the Board as of 2 April 2022. He has served as Chairman of the Board of Fellow Finance since 2018. He is also Chairman of the Board of Real Stone Houses Group Ltd, Connected Finland Oy, Connected Inventions Oy and Laatulinna Ltd and Investacon Ltd. In addition, he is a member of the Board and Managing Director of Convestia Ltd and a member of the Supervisory Board of SIA Oribalt Group.
Independent of the company and major shareholders.

Jorma Pirinen

Member of the Board

Born 1959. Education: graduate in business and marketing as well as MBA.
Member of the Board as of 2 April 2022. Leadership coach, mentor, non-fiction writer.
He has had a long career at Nordea Bank Oyj as Head of Branch Region and Manager of Nordea Life Assurance Finland Ltd.
Independent of the company and major shareholders.

Teuvo Salminen

Member of the Board, Deputy Chairman of the Board

Born 1954. Education: M.Sc. (Econ.)
Member of the Board as of 2 April 2022.
Member of the Board of Evli since 2010, and currently Vice Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Evli. In addition, he has been Chairman of the Board of Olo Collection Oy since 2017 and of T2H Group Oy since 2018. He has also been a member of the Board of Cargotec Corporation since 2010, 2holding N&B Oy since 2019, 3StepIT Oy since 2012 and Sipo Oy since 1987.
Independent of the company and major shareholders.

Tero Weckroth

Member of the Board

Born 1971. Education: licensed pharmacist and MBA.
Member of the Board as of 2 April 2022. He has served as a member of the Board of Fellow Finance since 2021. Weckroth is also a member of the Board of Nexstim Oyj, Decem Pharma Oy and Combinostics Oy. The Vice Chairman of the Board of Inderes Oyj. The Chairman of the Board of Avia Pharma Holding AB and WRCC Invest Oy.
Weckroth has previously worked for ABN Amro, Dresdner Kleinwort and Kepler Capital Markets, for example.
Independent of the company and major shareholders.

Management Team

Teemu Nyholm

CEO

Born 1975, M.Sc. (Tech.) and B.Sc. (Econ. & Bus. Adm.)
Co-founder of Fellow Finance and CEO since 2020, member of the Board in 2013–2020 and Chairman of the Board in 2013–2015 and 2018.
He has previously been the COO and CIO at Fellow Finance Plc, DFC Nordic Oyj and FIM Pankki.

Antoni Airikkala

Director, Deposit and Investor Customers

Born 1985, M.Soc.Sc.
He has been Director of Investor Accounts at Fellow Finance since 2020 and was Director of New Markets at Fellow Finance over the years 2015–2020.
He has previously worked at Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken.

Niklas Elomaa

Director, Digital channels

Born 1988. Education: BBA.
Has worked at Fellow Bank since July 2022 as Head of Mobile and from January 2023 as Head of Digital Channels.
He has previously served as founder and CEO of Mobify Invoices Oy and Suomen Vuokravastuu Oy, and as Sales and Development Director at Garantia Insurance Company.
Member of the Board in Sofokus Ventures investment companies and in Oy Huntteri Ab.

Riikka Järvinen

Marketing Director

Born 1974, M.Sc. (Econ. & Bus. Adm.).
She has served as Marketing Director of Fellow Finance since November 2021. She has previously worked e.g. in Nordea's strategic marketing, as Marketing Director of DNA's consumer business and in various marketing positions at Nokia Corporation.

Kukka Lehtimäki

CFO

Born 1988, M.Sc. (Econ. & Bus. Adm.).
She has worked at Fellow Bank since May 2022. In the past, she has held financial management positions at OP Financial Group and worked as an auditor of financial companies at KPMG.
On a parental leave from 3 March, 2023 (Interim CFO and member of the Management Team is Christina Wallenius).

Juha Saari

Director, Personal Customers; Deputy CEO

Born 1979, secondary-school graduate.
He has been Director of Finnish Consumer Lending at Fellow Finance since 2020.
He has previously worked in various consumer financing roles at Aurajoki Nordic Oyj (previously DFC Nordic Oyj) as COO in Finland and Sweden, for example.

Essi Salmela

Chief Risk Officer

Born 1989, M.Sc. (Econ. & Bus. Adm.).
She has worked as a Chief Risk Officer at Fellow Bank since April 2022.
Previously she has worked as financial professional at FCG Risk & Compliance Oy, Nordea, PwC and BearingPoint.

Miikka Silvonen

Director, Business Customers

Born 1989, M.Sc. (Econ. & Bus. Adm.).
He has worked in Fellow Finance’s Business Finance Department since 2017, as team leader since 2018 and as Director since 2020.

Piia Vuoti

General Counsel

Born 1977, LL.M., Trained on the bench.
She has been responsible for Fellow Bank's legal affairs and regulatory compliance since August 2022.
Before joining Fellow Bank, she has worked as a general counsel and a member of the management team at Veritas Pension Insurance Company, as a senior legal counsel at Ilmarinen and as a senior expert at Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK).

Christina Wallenius

Interim CFO

Born 1978, BBA.
She has worked at Fellow Finance since 2021. She has previously worked at Evli Bank Plc for more than 15 years in various financial administration roles, most recently as Accounting Manager.