Hi! 
Thanks for asking!
A couple of people have promised to interview me at some point, but I don’t know exactly when the interview will be done, so I do believe that the interview will happen eventually… maybe even this year.
But right now I’m blasting @SijoitusSeppo’s song. 
35. JEREMIAS MAKKONEN
Jeremias was certainly already familiar to many before coming to Inderes, e.g., through Nordnet, but for me personally, what stands out about Jeremias is his newsletter published about once a month called #pannukahvit (pan coffee). #pannukahvit was a great investment newsletter produced with high visual and content quality, offering slightly different content than other sources, and I always read it with great interest.
Given his work background and personal traits, Jeremias was a fitting choice for Inderes, and he certainly fits in well with the team otherwise due to his sense of humor, relaxed attitude, and diverse expertise. I have always liked his way of producing content because things are often presented clearly and concisely, yet written in a reader-friendly tone. 
So I know he is very good at various things; in addition, he is smart and well-versed in the investment world in various ways, but still, in the end, I don’t feel I’ve known very well what kind of an investor he is… especially nowadays, which is why I wanted to interview him. Maybe I need to encourage Jeremias a bit on the Forum side, as he would have a lot to contribute there too:
_____\n\n
1. Tell us in thirty words who you are.
An Espoo resident originally from Porvoo, fast approaching a mid-life crisis. The industry has become familiar through working in the colors of Lieto Savings Bank, Mandatum Life, Nordnet, and Inderes. My free time is colored by numerous interests.
2. Tell us three things that forum members don’t know about you.
• When I was younger, I dreamed of a career as a pilot. The matter ultimately remained just a distant dream, but thanks to Microsoft Flight Simulator, the Airbus A320 and airports around the world have become very familiar.
• I get my best ideas in the (warm) shower. In terms of water consumption, however, long shower sessions are a bit problematic, so in the future, I will need to figure out more ecological alternatives as a source of creativity.
• In some things, I am overly perfectionistic. I may polish details to extremes even when I know that less would suffice. Fortunately, I have recently learned to take things a bit easier sometimes in this regard.
3. What interests and hobbies do you have? Nothing related to investing is allowed.
I easily get excited about new things, so my list of interests is quite long. Here are a few highlights of the most important ones:
• Books: I learned to read already at the age of 3.5, and except for my study years, books have always been an important part of my life. I end up buying more books than I have time to read, so at my current reading pace, my bookshelves hold enough reading material for over 15 years. In addition to the topic forbidden in the question prompt, the shelves contain a lot of books related to psychology, history, artificial intelligence, and interesting personalities, among other things.
• Sports: I try to exercise regularly and versatilely. I especially like long walks, and especially in the summers, I often end up strolling on routes over 20 kilometers long. Otherwise, my favorites include classic middle-class sports such as cycling, padel, and rollerblading 
• Cooking: After workdays, cooking acts as a good way for me to unwind. As a younger lad, my diet consisted mostly of rice and chicken, so expanding my cooking skills has brought entirely new dimensions to cooking. Nowadays, my go-to specialties can be found among the classics of Italian, Thai, and Nepalese cuisines, among others.
• Photography: I feel I have a good visual eye, but for some reason, I am extremely bad at drawing and painting. That is why I have invested my resources into digital art and visual communication. Last year, I finally got around to buying a DSLR/system camera, and my goal now is to develop my skills to a level where I would dare to publish photos somewhere eventually.
• Traveling: Our family of four never had the money for holiday trips abroad, so I have only seen the world like this in adulthood. The absolute favorites so far have been Dubrovnik in Croatia and Tromsø in Northern Norway. I am also looking forward to the summer holiday trip looming a couple of weeks away, during which I will see Venice, Garda, Como, Zurich, Innsbruck, and Munich.
4. What is a regular weekday like for you?
The morning schedule varies slightly depending on the day’s program, but typically I wake up around 5:50 a.m., after which I head through the shower to the breakfast table. I mainly do my work at the office, so after breakfast, there is a commute of about 45 minutes from Leppävaara to Ruoholahti.
I am often the first one there, so I get to kick off the workday by brewing the office’s second-best coffee (I can be found in a completely impartial ranking right after Finland’s best filter coffee brewer @Antti_Jarvenpaa). @Emma_Kuusinen and @Kaisa_Vanha-Perttula have already well opened up the community team’s tasks in previous interviews, but in a nutshell, a typical workday consists of distributing morning review content to social media channels, planning and executing analyst interviews, and various smaller tasks and projects.
I usually start my workday between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m., so I try to wrap up work around four o’clock if the situation allows. Free time is spent on the hobbies mentioned in the previous question and enjoying the company of my loved ones/friends. I aim to get to sleep by 11 p.m. at the latest.
5. Could you briefly describe what kind of an investor you are?
Condensed into four words: I look for profitable growth at a reasonable price.
**6. Could you briefly outline what kind of investment history you have?**I made my first stock picks in the summer of 2014, when shares of Nokian Renkaat and Biotie ended up in my portfolio. If I recall correctly, there were some quite sensible reasons behind buying Nokian Renkaat, but with Biotie, I made a classic beginner’s mistake and justified the investment to myself based on Biotie’s low share price. Eventually, the US-based Acorda bought Biotie out of the stock exchange in 2016, but I had already realized my losses long before that.
Over the years, I’ve dabbled in both index investing and random stock shooting, but the core of my current investment strategy when it comes to stock picking is to find profitable growth at a reasonable price. Due to Inderes’ trading rules, the weight of ETFs in my portfolio has increased significantly over the past year at the expense of domestic stock investments.
7. You used to work at Nordnet, which is, among other things, a stock and fund broker. What tools and lessons has your work at Nordnet brought to your investment activities?
Leverage! No, but what I took away from Nordnet was, above all, an understanding of funds and ETFs. However, the most important lessons, rather than related to investing, were connected to my work in content creation and communication. My couple-year journey at Nordnet developed my professional skills immensely and provided a solid foundation of expertise for my current job.
8. Well, now you work with us. How has your job at Inderes affected your investment activities?
During my short career at Inderes, my understanding of the Helsinki Stock Exchange companies under our coverage has grown significantly. At the same time, I have learned to pay even better attention to matters relevant to value creation.
On the other hand, before moving to Inderes, I pruned almost all my domestic stock investments out of my portfolio, because I do not want Inderes’ trading rules to limit my opportunities to buy/sell stocks where my view differs from that of the analyst. This clever move is, however, likely far from sensible, as I am aware that my own expertise is on a completely different planet compared to our top-tier analysts.
9. What kind of investment portfolio do you have? If you had to sell three stocks from your portfolio today, which ones would you sell and why?
For the reasons mentioned above, the stock side of my portfolio is becoming very trimmed, and the core is largely built around ETFs. However, there are still a few stock picks, the most important of which are Microsoft, LVMH, Visa, Zebra Technologies, Sonova, Texas Instruments, and Novo Nordisk.
It would probably be most sensible to sell everything, since I don’t believe I am better than the average investor at analyzing companies outside my home turf. ETF investing is very boring, though, so stock picking brings a bit of extra excitement to life—even though my portfolio nowadays mostly consists of large and reasonably stable quality companies.
If I were forced to sell three stocks, I would probably choose the companies whose businesses I understand the least. My choices would thus fall on Zebra, Sonova, and Texas Instruments.
10. If I remember correctly, you are quite often at the Ruoholahti office. What information and thoughts do you get from that office that you can’t get anywhere else?
Our office is full of passionate top professionals, so every conversation over a coffee cup or, say, an inderesTV analyst interview offers a great opportunity to learn new things about interesting listed companies. It is also easy and quick to check questions that are puzzling you directly with the analyst covering the company in question.
11. People talk too little about stock selling processes. Tell us, what is your stock selling process step by step?
As a rule, I aim to invest only in companies that I could happily imagine owning even if the stock market were closed for the next ten years. This is easier said than done, however, so sometimes it is appropriate to admit one’s mistakes and consider selling stocks. In my opinion, it is better to look foolish in the short term than to suffer from poor investment decisions in the long term.
So I don’t have a systematic selling process, but the most common reasons for sales in my investment activities include the following:
• Inadequate understanding of the company’s business: I get excited about things easily, which sometimes leads to rushed investment decisions, and I may later realize how little I actually understand about the business of the company in question. In such cases, I end up selling the stocks if a deeper dive into the company does not lead to a level of understanding that satisfies me.
• Facts change: The assumptions I made before the investment decision may prove to be incorrect, competitive advantages may wither away, or the investment story may change significantly due to corporate restructuring. In such situations, selling the stocks is a very likely scenario.
• Absurdly high valuation: I am generally quite willing to hold on to my best horses even at high valuation levels. However, I may consider selling if the valuation is so high that I cannot justify it with any reasonable scenario.
12. Analyze these three companies in 30 words per company.
Heeros: The current customer base should hold plenty of additional sales potential with an increasingly broad product portfolio. However, sluggish new sales and a challenging market situation are worrisome.
Modulight: Strong evidence of profitable growth was of interest back around the time of the IPO. Since then, the progress has been grim to watch, and poor visibility into the progress of projects does not increase attractiveness.
Stockmann: The value lies in Lindex, but loss-making department stores make it difficult to unlock that value. Lindex CEO Susanne Ehnbågen’s appointment as CEO of the entire group adds an interesting twist to the picture.
13. Recommend a few materials/productions made by the community team, with justifications, that perhaps deserve more attention?@Antti_Jarvenpaa and @Marianne_Palmu’s Talouden jäljillä concept has been a great way to explore macro topics that are a bit more unfamiliar to me. During earnings seasons, in turn, the earnings live streams offer a unique opportunity to follow analysts’ initial reactions to the most interesting results. And if I may toot my own horn a little bit, the Jatkoilla Ruoholahdessa series produced together with @Ville_Kivinen has been one of the most fun projects of my career so far.
14. You must choose 2 forum members, 2 analysts, and 2 other Inderes employees to manage your portfolio for the next five years. Who would you choose and why?
@Mauri: We share a passion for investing, books, and learning new things. Mauri’s investment philosophy is also compatible with my own thoughts, so I could confide my portfolio to his management for the next five years with peace of mind.
@KuHa: With KuHa, I could be sure that investment decisions are based on high-quality, long-form analysis that doesn’t leave relevant factors unnoticed.
@Rauli_Juva: Among the analysts, my eyes would first turn to Rauli, whose realistic views and courage to examine things critically I greatly appreciate.
@Antti_Siltanen: Through Antti, my portfolio could end up with a few interesting wild cards whose analysis exceeds my own capabilities.
@Mikael_Rautanen: I’ll take advantage of a small loophole here and choose an ex-analyst for the other Inderes employees’ share.
@Yu_Gong: We also need one man of quick action who doesn’t make investing too difficult.
15. Why do you use the Forum? What information do you get there that you can’t get anywhere else?
The level of discussion is generally quite high, and for example, the main points of earnings releases are often chewed through on the forum surprisingly quickly. I use the forum to my advantage especially when I need pre-chewed information on a quick schedule.
16. How do you strive to control your emotions in investing? Have you practiced investment psychology somehow?
Controlling emotions is unfortunately difficult, even if you are familiar with investment psychology. However, I have tried to recognize key cognitive biases and understand other investors’ behavior in the stock market by studying psychology. In my opinion, books worth reading around the subject include Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow and Richard H. Thaler’s Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics.
17. What goals do you have in investing? Do you have any monetary goals?
I don’t have exact monetary goals, but I aim for a point in life where my investment assets enable me to spend my time on the things I find most meaningful for myself. However, this doesn’t automatically mean that I would, for example, retire from working life. The most important thing is the freedom to decide about one’s life without the restrictions set by the financial situation.
18. How have you benefited in your everyday life from investing and saving?
Despite my investment hobby, I am not very good at saving, and salary income is actively used to enjoy life. Due to this, a massive fortune has not accumulated, but the buffer found in the form of investments still brings peace of mind, with the help of which I can sleep my nights peacefully without worry about unexpected expenses.
19. Give Alokas a couple of tips on how he could succeed in making better purchases and sales
With the help of this great interview series and the lessons provided by the investors participating in it, you will surely get far already. Keep up the good work and maintain your curious attitude, and things will turn out great!
20. What do you especially want to thank the forum members for?
A big thank you for your invaluable contribution to the Inderes community! It’s fantastic that over the years, the forum has become a place that attracts such a large number of extremely smart people who are willing to share their expertise with others as well.
Thanks Jeremias for the great answers! 
I like that Jeremias knows how to think about things from many different perspectives and constantly has the energy to do and research all sorts of things in a versatile way. In my opinion, all kinds of activities and reading move you forward in different areas of life, and they broaden and diversify your own views. I myself read versatilely, but all kinds of activities have been really sparse, so I should step up my game a bit so I would experience more things in my life.
A certain kind of versatility in thinking, in life, as well as in investing moves you forward, so it’s perhaps not worth being a pessimistic, black-and-white charging zealot, because then you just stagnate in place or even drop downwards.
Jeremias certainly has knowledge and skill, so tag the guy on the Forum at least regarding those matters and companies that he also mentions in the interview.
Happy Friday everyone! 
Jeremias’s “lessons” are, after all, quite simple and don’t really involve any over-engineering. In fact, it feels like the more knowledgeable an investor is, the more they emphasize these kinds of basics in their writings and speeches. Newer investors are perhaps more guilty of focusing too much on details and trying to be cleverer than they actually are… myself being a prime example.
I’ve heard some regret quitting investing, and usually the story goes something like this: bought at the peak and sold at the bottom. I haven’t heard anyone regret how persistently and long they have invested, so be patient—time is your friend.
Next week it’s the turn of an experienced veteran, followed by a few analysts.
Have a fun and relaxing weekend!
Every Friday, I do indeed aim to get an interview out.
The interviews are not in any particular order of importance, and I’ve continued to receive many great suggestions for interviewees, but I can only manage one interview per week. This means I might not get to interview some very interesting people for a couple of years yet.
Many have declined, but always for good reasons, and everyone who has declined has done so very graciously.
Many of the suggested interviewees are a bit unfamiliar to me, but I’ve tried to follow them more closely so that I might be able to interview them at some point.
I’ve received a lot of ideas, all of which have been good, but I can’t or don’t know how to implement all of them; some I’ve already carried out, and some I will do later.
Thank you to all the interviewees, readers, and those who shared the interviews!
This Friday, June 2nd, an interview with an experienced “gentleman investor” from our forum will be published.
He beautifully combines experience, fresh ideas, sophistication, and logic – this guy’s writings are always worth reading.
I received his answers a couple of days ago, and I must say there’s something for everyone in them. Furthermore, the answers reveal that he has experienced all sorts of very interesting things in his life.
Patience is a virtue in investing as well, so I wish everyone patience and a long-term perspective + of course, a great start to the investment week!
EDIT:
WOW! 
The “Alokas interviews” thread has reached 100,000 views!
36. NukkeNukuttaja
If I were to write a text describing what makes a good investment forum contributor, that description would fit NukkeNukuttaja very well. He is an excellent writer, well-mannered, very knowledgeable, kindly shares information with others, and possesses traits typical of an educated person; there is no need to show off, he neither provokes nor gets provoked (= well, he is civilized).
I think it’s wonderful when experience and knowledge are combined with openness and inventiveness in the same person… and these qualities are combined in NukkeNukuttaja. He clearly knows and understands a lot, but despite—or precisely because of—that, he knows how to explain things in a very understandable way.
There are many quite smart and relatively knowledgeable investors, but still, quite few of them genuinely know how to see the big picture and the factors influencing it—Nukuttaja seems to see these aspects as well. If you genuinely and truly know and see the big picture in investing, then I would believe you are not such a prejudiced investor driven by emotions.
In short: NukkeNukuttaja’s posts are worth reading.
1. Describe who you are in thirty words.
A Helsinki resident by way of a train, living in the inner city, 59 years old, a humanist, possibly considered a bit bohemian by some. Work history quite mixed, among other places, I spent a few years at the Bank of Finland. My personal history cannot really be addressed without chess, more on that later.
2. Tell three things that forum members don’t know about you.
I have faced both Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi across the chessboard. Jennas and Jonnes might not necessarily remember, but the World Championship matches between these two dominated headlines in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with Karpov as the loyal product and golden boy of the Soviet system, while Korchnoi was known as a critic of the system—in 1976 he defected to the West, eluding his KGB shadow during a tournament in the Netherlands. This confrontation was bound to arouse the interest of more than just the chess audience. Still, I have pleasant memories of both; I had the opportunity to speak with Karpov for quite a bit longer. Korchnoi passed away to the hunting grounds of eternity a few years ago already, but Karpov still serves as a member of the Russian State Duma and, somewhat surprisingly, expressed a desire for peace in Ukraine last autumn, as he has many Ukrainian chess friends as well. @Kale-possu has written wonderful, culturally enriching chess summaries for the forum’s coffee room, thanks to him for raising awareness of the sport 
.
On an investment-related note, I could mention that Erkki Sinkko was my high school native-language teacher. If my memory serves me right, back then he wasn’t yet preaching the gospel of popular capitalism to his students; on the other hand, it’s also possible that this just went in one ear and out the other for me, as I didn’t catch any spark from it there. Erkki is definitely to be thanked for the fact that I got a laudatur [highest grade] in the matriculation examination, seeing as he was quite a demanding teacher. His style hasn’t changed at all over the years; he was already fond of making similar, emphatic statements on various topics back then. I laughed out loud a few weeks ago when I bumped into this immortal quote quoted by someone on Twitter: “In our family, you always buy Nokia when you can get it for under 12 euros.” Let this serve as some sort of comfort to you @Lexus , @OldFeki, and other Nokia thread regulars .
During my student days, I worked one summer at the Turku Central Prison, more familiarly known as Kakola. A grim stone building of sad stories, but not everything told about it is necessarily to be believed. Of course, one has followed the lives of these “crooks” later on in crime news as well, although quite a few of the big names of back then have already moved on to other hunting grounds, since the life expectancy of criminals tends to be shorter than that of the average citizen. Nowadays, you can actually stay overnight in Kakola’s prison cells, as some of them have been converted into hotel rooms. If you’re looking for experiences, it’s worth checking out the offerings for your next trip to Turku, instead of a boring chain hotel .
3. What interests and hobbies do you have? You are not allowed to mention anything related to investing .
Before, the answer to this would have been: Chess, chess, and chess. Practically my ages 15–40 were very chess-filled; I played in tournaments on a continuous loop and almost everything else was secondary, even a distraction. Characteristic of chess is its engrossing nature. The endless possibilities to execute different move variations on a board of only 64 squares fascinate people from one era to the next; an old Indian proverb goes, “Chess is like an ocean, a gnat may drink from it and an elephant may drown in it.” Afterwards, I have sometimes thought that even less might have sufficed, but on the other hand, I have gained many lifelong friends and acquaintances over the decades, pleasant memories from tournaments in various countries, and unforgettable encounters. Although nowadays I am mostly “cooling down” regarding the sport, an occasional competition still fits into my schedule from time to time.
To be able to speak of hobbies and interests in the plural, let’s add that nowadays when I travel, I take the opportunity to get acquainted with local museums and churches—so this can definitely be considered a hobby, as it has been consistent behavior for several years now. In literature, I am primarily interested in biographies and crime history; in the autumns, I spend four days intensively at the Helsinki Book Fair. I also take long walks, but I consider this more of a lifestyle, a way to maintain fitness and enjoy the fresh outdoor air.
**4. What is a normal weekday like for you?**My phone rings at 7:30 AM to wake me up, I enjoy a long breakfast and take care of other morning routines, browsing news topics on my phone, while Yle’s morning TV also hums in the background. At 9:00 AM I turn on the computer and immediately open the most important investment sites, Nordnet, Kauppalehti, Inderes, and Investing, to name a few, and potential short positions also get checked on sites like Shortnordic, for example. From my phone’s notes, I check if it’s necessary to make any tactical fine-tuning for portfolio management reasons; strategic considerations are always done on weekends and while walking outdoors. In the mornings, I also make the most important phone calls. I check the market opening and around 11 AM (this is quite fluid) I close the computer and head out to the city center. I return home between 4 PM and 5 PM and, alongside other activities, check the home stock exchange’s final hour. At my age, there aren’t (fortunately) that many evening outings anymore, so often I still do some note-taking and of course browse the Inderes forum. If I really want to let loose, I might even listen to an InderesPod or a company interview Before going to sleep, I dedicate yet another hour to the worship of the television screen.
5. Could you briefly describe what kind of an investor you are?
Slightly enthusiastic, on the other hand very security-seeking. My risk tolerance is probably just about right, though, going with a 95-100% investment rate; I don’t use leverage, I value a good night’s sleep. Some of my investments are purely ideological, meaning it doesn’t always have to be yield-first, but you can just enjoy owning a nice company. A reasonable dividend yield is of course usually among my criteria. I don’t pay much attention to the macro picture in my investments, though it’s fun to follow otherwise, for example from @Marianne_Palmu’s reviews or the “Pörssien suunta” (Direction of the Stock Exchanges) thread.
6. Could you briefly open up what kind of investment history you have?
In my childhood home, investing wasn’t talked about; actually, housing savings was the only way considered sensible, which incidentally seems to be the case for quite a few other forum members regardless of age group. Around the turn of the 1990s, at work I often browsed Kauppalehti, and surely news elsewhere covered various corporate raids that commercial banks, among others, engaged in while competing with each other. As it happened, my first stock was probably SKOP, I suppose it was some share issue that I participated in. The problems of the bank in question were not yet known to the general public, even though CEO Matti Ali-Melkkilä, who had been on sick leave, had shot himself in December 1989. Later I started running into serious-looking, even anxious-seeming savings bank gentlemen in the corridors of my workplace, but little did I know. For entirely different reasons, however, I sold my shares before the truth began to be revealed in tabloid headlines, culminating in the takeover of SKOP by the Bank of Finland on September 19, 1991. When reading about the problems of US regional banks now, it is good to remember that one of the root causes of SKOP’s problems was indebtedness and a misguided interest rate view—meaning people don’t learn much from these . In general, excessive risk-taking is one of the surest ways to destroy a company. By the way, I recommend reading Heikki Hiilamo’s “SKOP, Lyhyt historia” (SKOP, A Short History) and Markku Kuisma and Teemu Keskisarja’s “Erehtymättömät” (The Infallibles), if one is interested in what Finnish banks were up to in the 1980s and 90s. @Sijoittaja-alokas might be interested in the businessman duo “Tiku and Taku” that tormented banks in the 1990s (unrelated to Inderes’ corresponding duo, editor’s note) . It is indeed a pity that I didn’t keep any written evidence of my stock trades; stock trades were made at bank counters back then. We can only nostalgically reminisce about these solemn moments with e.g. @Lyly_ja_Immo and other investors who have reached a more mature age. But my 1990s investing didn’t last long, all sorts of other things came into life.
In the early 2000s, I managed a joint portfolio, by the way with a partner who is currently a Member of Parliament. The portfolio included, among other things, eQ-online (eQ’s predecessor) and Ponsse shares bought at 2-3 euros apiece (yes, you read that right); everything is relative of course, but at some point, this promising arrangement was also dismantled. I’ve also tried fund investing, but I noticed very quickly that it’s not my thing—the value of the low-risk fund kept falling and I couldn’t influence the matter in any way, so it suits a buy-and-forget type of investor extremely well, but clearly, I do not fall into this category.
I actually jumped into the deep end properly only at the end of 2017, when I started following the markets daily, and I’ve been on that path ever since. I do remember examining index performance back then and concluding that it is by no means the best moment to buy stocks; fortunately, however, this was not an insurmountable obstacle for myself. I can largely thank the corona spring of 2020 and the correct-direction moves made during it for the fact that I have been able to beat the index and of course also Inderes’ model portfolio by a wide margin in recent years. In the short term, luck therefore plays a very large part in returns, but surely, as the water keeps flowing in the Vantaanjoki river, it will even out sooner or later. At that point, or actually a little before, might be a good time to switch to index investing .
**7. What does your portfolio look like at the moment? How have you thought about the diversification of your portfolio?**Largest holdings are Tokmanni (30%), Sampo (17%), and Fortum (7%) — proper boomer stocks, then perhaps slightly surprisingly also Inderes (6%). Then there are 4-6% stakes in companies like KH Group, Lassila & Tikanoja, Marimekko, Nordea, Nokian Rinkulat (Nokian Tyres), and Spinnova. I don’t dabble in very small positions; Consti, Fiskars, Lamor, NoHo, and Stockmann are probably the temporarily smallest ones at just around 2% each. These will either be built up or exited completely, as any potential buyout offer for my portfolio company needs to have a significant impact on returns. I’ve had some great hits on those over the past five and a half years: Ramirent, Rovio, and Tikkurila. All three of my portfolios are of course viewable on Nordnet’s Shareville, though I don’t encourage following them, given how many trades I make a month and how much it spams the newsfeed there.
This might be a good point to mention that my biggest losses have come from Kamux and Nokia. Neither were core holdings in my portfolio, but I tried to profit from momentum and God knows what else, with poor results. The biggest loss-making position in my portfolio is Tokmanni, but I can’t bring myself to worry about it; I have a pretty good grasp of the company’s fair value once we get through inflation, and good dividends will heal the wounds over time anyway.
Opinions can be divided regarding the diversification of my portfolio, since I focus solely on domestic stocks. On the other hand, why look further afield when we have plenty of good listed companies right here at home, and the informational advantage is also obvious. It is probably also striking how focused my companies are on the domestic and Nordic markets, with the only exceptions being Fiskars, Lamor, Rinkulat (Tyres), and Spinnova. In addition, several sectors are conspicuously absent, while the consumer sector is notably overweight, even though the worst may only lie ahead in the autumn. In labor-intensive industries, scalability is also a bit hit-or-miss. Fortunately, I hardly need to worry about the Russia risk of my portfolio companies anymore . On the other hand, this is very much a portfolio in my own image, featuring major domestic employers and companies whose products and services are likely to remain in demand. “Keep it Simple” could be my motto.
8. If you weren’t allowed to sell three of your stocks for ten years, which ones would you choose and why?
In principle, all stocks in my portfolio are long-term holds, but of course cracks can appear in the story over years, so let’s pick the foolproof cases . From the large weights per stock in the previous answer, one can already deduce that one of these is Sampo; I believe people will continue to be risk-averse enough to take out insurance, and furthermore, the Nordic insurance market is stable. Tokmanni: discount retail thrives in any economic climate; there are always cost-conscious people who compare prices just for the sake of their own purchasing power and favor cheaper alternatives. In addition, the “Smart shopping” trend is going strong. The third one requires a moment of thought—let’s put down Inderes. Surely @Mikael_Rautanen and the crew will keep the company afloat and in good shape; ten years is a long time, and I consider staff turnover to be a risk of sorts, but @Verneri_Pulkkinen can always do his morning updates from his luxury villa in the Bahamas, or will he settle for a fancy home studio in Lahti !?
9. You never know how long a stock will ultimately stay in your portfolio, but can you say how far out you usually look when taking a stock into your portfolio?
Ownership is the starting point, and in principle the current stocks are meant to be enjoyed into retirement. So I mainly own businesses that can withstand economic cycles, though occasionally I buy “overnight” positions because the morning is often wiser than the evening and the brain does the processing while sleeping. So you notice quite quickly whether an impulse-bought stock fits into the overall portfolio at all. I often make over 50 trades a month; these are mostly lowering the average price by churning sub-positions. If an unmissable opportunity arises for a short holding in some company I know less well, I can jump in—I’ve done this with varying degrees of success. On the other hand, a sharp drop in a stock price should never be the sole reason to buy a stock.
10. How do you monitor the companies already in your portfolio, aside from Inderes’ materials and releases?
Companies’ own websites are excellent sources of information, as is IR (yes, anyone can contact them, contact information can be found on company websites), the financial press, investment-themed websites, and Facebook and Twitter on social media. At general meetings, I mainly try to go and interpret the general atmosphere, management’s choice of words, and body language; by doing this, I have even avoided a couple of landmines . The meetings also provide an opportunity to ask tough questions of management. I always read the texts by Jarkko “Random Walker” Aho and Anders Oldenburg of the Phoebus Fund very carefully, as I own many of the same stocks as they do.
**11. What is your step-by-step stock-picking process?**This is a useful question, especially for myself . So let’s try to clear it up a bit. Everyday life is full of stimuli; a cleaning robot equipped with Lassila & Tikanoja’s amusing advertising slogans might come walking down the shopping center aisle, or Mr. Tokmanni with his red trucks appears on the TV screen, and during an evening walk, a Consti tarp hangs from the facade of a renovation site—the list is endless. Once interest has been sparked and the idea has matured a bit in your head, you start browsing investor materials on the company’s website. In a good case (almost always), you can also find Inderes’ analysis of the company. Business drivers and megatrends need to be figured out, and you try to interpret key figures over a slightly longer period, even though the temptation to stare only at the current or next year’s P/E ratio is great . The management’s CVs, the company’s market areas, and the list of shareholders are things you’re happy to look into, not forgetting peers. It would also be good to perform a risk analysis; geopolitics is hot right now, dependence on one major customer, potential reputational risks, etc., should be taken into account in advance. The buying decision is then sometimes made very quickly, taking a quick glance at the RSI and other technical indicators just in case.
12. What are your three most important valuation multiples and why?
It would be great to answer EV/EBITDA and other fancy combinations, but I must admit that as a value investor and a boomer (born in the USA in 1964 are considered the youngest baby boomer cohort ), the first things that catch my eye are P/E and P/B, and then I examine returns on capital (mainly ROE) over a longer period. I simply don’t want to pay too much for uncertain future expectations. That return on equity is handy when compared to the book value; quite often, companies trading below their book value also have a weak return on capital, whereas conversely, a low P/B company generating a good return on capital is a delicious combination. In cyclical companies, this is of course not so simple. Actually, one should always consider on a company-by-company basis which metrics are relevant at any given time; this can also be found out by asking the analysts if you’re looking for an easy solution . I don’t practice any mechanical sorting; I know quite precisely what kind of business I want to be involved in. Of course, Inderes’ stock comparison gets used to some extent for entertainment purposes. I wouldn’t touch DCF models with a ten-foot pole; I leave those to investors smarter than me .
13. Tell us in thirty words per company what you think of them right now?
A great Finnish corporate story since 1951, it’s just nice to own this. Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko has done a good job, and now we are waiting to see if growth in Asia gets properly underway. I have participated in the domestic effort myself by acquiring Marimekko socks .
The company is personified by the straightforward and plain-spoken CEO Aku Vikström. Could anything worse happen to a business than the pandemic era, and they got through even that. The market is perhaps finally gaining confidence in NoHo’s debt-leveraged business model, and summer is, after all, the best time for restaurants.
Discount retail does well in any conditions; of course, pricing power is weak in an inflationary environment, but nonetheless, profit is generated nicely and dividends are enjoyed. Many expect the current year to be the year of discount retail, and judging by the weather, the spring season—so important to Tokmanni—seems to have gotten off to a nice start.
14. Analyze the analyst
Among my companies, Aapeli only covers Lamor. The company is not the easiest one to analyze; a lot depends on landing upcoming competitive bidding processes in the company’s basket, but Aapeli definitely produces analysis with the demeanor of a professional and also handles interview situations admirably. By the way, his career at Inderes seems to be coming up on three years already—time flies. In the earnings interview, Aapeli, originally from Tampere, cleverly dodged the question of Ilves or Tappara by wishing both teams good luck .
It was a lottery win for Inderes to get a Life Science analyst like Antti onto their ranks—a molecular biologist by training. When you look at the companies he covers: Nexstim, Bioactive Bone Substitutes, Faron Pharmaceuticals, etc., just remembering how to spell the names is a struggle—did I even get those right —let alone being able to evaluate as a layman the market success chances of the pipeline assets these companies are developing. I’m just wondering here if Antti might also own Duell, as he mentioned in an Inderes interview that he is looking forward to the motorcycle season .
Olli produces his analyses promptly after company events and additionally monitors and shares information in the company threads as well. Rarely, if ever, have you had to wait until Monday morning for the conclusions of a Friday earnings release, for example; instead, the new analysis is already available over the weekend. Possibly, the sudden changes in consumer behavior in recent years’ fluctuating economic environment have also come as a bit of a surprise to him, although this seems to have surprised retail operators too. Olli probably knows whether yoga mats are already being sold at Tokmanni .
**15. What time has been the most stressful time in your investment history and why?**There have been several extremely stressful periods in my life, but I can’t really connect stress to investing. During the banking crisis and recession of the 1990s, there was plenty else to think about; during the dot-com bubble and the financial crisis, I wasn’t in the market. The COVID-19 pandemic was an interesting human experiment, and with hindsight, it’s easy to say that certain overshoots were likely made in the restriction measures. Russia’s attack on Ukraine caused some grey hairs to a certain extent, but even here, there was plenty else to worry about besides investments. Afterwards, it crossed my mind that maybe 2021 was slightly annoying; you could clearly see stock prices starting to take off, yet almost all market participants, analysts included, were caught up in this madness. Well, I didn’t make many sales myself either while Tokmanni was hovering near 27 euros .
While pondering the answer to the question, I came up with a great bridge to generational experiences—how, for example, did the Stockholm stock exchange react to the assassination of Olof Palme on February 28, 1986? Since it was a Friday evening, the markets had time to digest the news until Monday. The sinking of the Estonia on September 28, 1994, probably caused uncertainty in shipping companies and perhaps insurance companies too. To my own generational experiences, I would definitely add the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, the restoration of Estonian independence on August 20, 1991 (I had the opportunity to travel there already during the Soviet era, and the difference in the mental atmosphere right after independence was enormous), and somewhat surprisingly perhaps, the death of Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997. So these are events where I still remember quite precisely where I was and what I was doing when I received the news. But stop right there, I’m not going to appropriate millennials’ generational experiences after all; surely I and the older generations have already stolen the pensions from younger generations .
16. You are no longer quite a spring chicken, what has experience brought to your investing?
Perhaps more perseverance and knowing what you want, rather than jumping on every Hyzone and Voxtur bandwagon (apologies to the holders ). Source criticism is also possibly a bit stricter for me nowadays; on the other hand, as you get older, you know how to take things a bit easier—quite often you end up looking at things and phenomena through Pahkasika [a satirical magazine] and Kummeli [a comedy sketch show] glasses. Humor is a good way to cope with temporary setbacks and botched investments (this is a good moment to thank all the meme-thread masterminds ). The idealistic thinking of youth has changed into an understanding that things are rarely black and white. Of course, I still avoid the debt-collection and gambling industries like the plague.
17. What one thing about investing would you teach forum members at the push of a button, if you could?
I don’t really feel I’m in a position to teach smart people anything new in general, but perhaps when looking at the buy/sell thread, there might be room for improvement in perseverance for some forum members. It’s also worth having an investment plan in some form; for me, the notes section on my phone serves this purpose—it doesn’t require anything more than writing down a few core principles with bullet points, and it’s easy to modify them according to the situation if there’s a need for changes. It pays to play the long game; the quick day-trading gains bring momentary pleasure, but usually, it’s even more rewarding to enjoy the growing dividends year after year thanks to successful stock picking. Of course, the markets in a way actively encourage short-termism; quarterly reporting is probably very exhausting for almost all market participants, especially the companies themselves. Analysts’ target prices often aim 12 months ahead, but despite that, the outlook and price can fluctuate several times a year. The news flow is endless; something is always happening somewhere. Try sitting tightly on top of a stock for 10 years or longer after that . In life, everyone can be either an optimist or a pessimist according to their character, but in stock investing, it definitely pays to be an optimist most of the time. It can even be disastrous for returns to see bogies everywhere and maintain an unnecessarily high cash weighting. Everyone ultimately decides on a suitable stock weighting for themselves, of course. I seem to have already pushed quite a few buttons here, to return to the actual question .
18. Why do you invest? Do you aim to enjoy the wealth brought by investing in some concrete way?
I suppose the traditional financial peace of mind is the biggest driver for investing; plus, this is a damn interesting and culturally enriching hobby. Besides, I needed to find a pastime since my chess career has already turned toward the sunset, and after sobering up a good six years ago, money and time seemed to remain in abundance for other things. Philosophically speaking, I also see investing as an opportunity to self-actualize; a successful investment certainly brings a lot of pleasure—I’m not just talking about the return, but about having the right intuition regarding a certain company. Oh, and of course, owning a share of a business, that’s an awesome thing.
It’s not quite time yet to enjoy the dividend stream—meaning the cash flow to my investment accounts is currently one-way. Of course, I’m in a comfortable position in the sense that I no longer feel any great need to add new capital, but by reinvesting dividends, one already gets far. However, in just a few years, the plan is to spend the bleakest winter months in Portugal, and dividend income will be more than enough for that. The investments themselves don’t necessarily ever need to be realized; let those left behind deal with them in the will.
**19. Can you give a tip on how Alokas could manage to get at least the index return from the market?**Investing in an index !? Speaking seriously, I think Alokas has his ducks in a row, and on top of that, an extremely positive attitude towards doing things will guarantee good results before long. If you want to become good, if not the best at something, you have to have passion; success will follow right behind. As general advice to pretty much everyone, I repeat a saying known from chess as well: “remember to sit on your hands.” I haven’t been very good at following this advice myself during my chess career, so if you see what you think is a very promising opportunity, it’s still worth checking one more time to see if there is some gap or downside in the plan. Sometimes it can simply be the wrong time to buy, as I suppose we all have experience with falling knives. Of course, the good thing about investing is that you can always take back a move by selling the position .
20. What would you especially like to thank the forum members for?
This investment forum is quite a melting pot of ideas; a large number of experienced and intelligent investors analyze companies, and I suspect that sometimes the analysis even goes deeper than the management of the company in question has comprehended regarding future prospects. As the cherry on top, Inderes’ analysts and even company representatives, sometimes even at the CEO level, answer questions troubling investors in the company threads. Education and professional experience from various fields combine here into a creative process, bringing new perspectives to everyone regarding the companies they follow. The discussion culture has been maintained quite well as respectful of others, and everyone gets to make their voice heard. So thanks to all fellow forum members and let’s keep up the good work . Finally, I would like to highlight a couple of names, both of whom do a lot of selfless work for the benefit of the forum, persistently answering questions troubling people: @DayTraderXL regarding technical analysis and @Jarnis as a jack-of-all-trades for a bit of everything between heaven and earth. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to hear a bit more from both in this interview thread .
Special thanks also to @Sijoittaja-alokas for the great content creation idea regarding this interview thread; I am not entirely in my own comfort zone as an interviewee, as Alokas perhaps noticed from my long deliberation time. However, the decision to agree to this was supported by the basic thought: Ask not what the forum can do for you, but what you can do for the forum .
Thanks to NukkeNukuttaja for the infinitely interesting answers!
I believe absolutely everyone will get some lessons and good entertainment out of this interview. This is the kind of interview that will surely be read over and over again.
In Nukuttaja and other educated, smart people, a certain healthy humility is often visible, meaning no know-it-all attitude, but rather a readiness to develop and a genuine desire to learn. It is easy to criticize and point fingers at others, but harder to look in the mirror; to admit your mistakes and learn. So it’s worth thinking about what you want in life and acting accordingly to get what you want.
Have a nice Friday!
The bike is in storage, as I had to find time for “more important” things 
. I do hold out hope that the hobby will continue again at some point after the break. Perhaps because of this break, I haven’t bought Duell and when it comes to hobby stocks, I’m only on board with Rapala…
Ideas were shared in the Coffee Room:
And I responded to the idea like this:
So on Friday, when I post the interview here, I’ll blur the interviewee’s name, but by clicking the blur, you can see who it is immediately if you want.
After the weekend, I’ll remove the blur.
NukkeNukuttaja was understandably generally thought to be a much younger guy, although no one meant that a 59-year-old is old yet.
Nukuttaja certainly had many interesting things and stories to tell. Experience, knowledge, and common sense were found in the answers, and he clearly doesn’t seem to go in for over-complicating things or gimmicks; on the other hand, it surprised me that he often makes over 50 trades a month (vs. my 0-4). 
Interview by interview, my impression is reinforced that it’s worth focusing on the basics, but on the other hand, at the same time, it’s good to follow various things openly and broadly without over-analyzing the details too much.
Have a great weekend!
This Friday, June 9th, the interview will feature an analyst known for being diligent and cheerful, who has all sorts of challenging companies under their coverage.
Next Friday, it will be another analyst’s turn. Then after that, perhaps a member of the community team, and after that potentially another analyst, but after those, more forum members again.
Have a great start to the investment week!
37. ANTTI LUIRO
Antti is a cheerful, polite, and sharp analyst, whom the Chairman of the Board of Inderes has described as “talented as they come.” He is undeniably talented, perhaps even The Chosen One, who, with his talent and reform-mindedness, is certainly driving Inderes forward through his own actions.
Luiro has a slightly more challenging set of companies to follow, but in my opinion, he has done a great job comprehensively breaking down these companies for us investors as investment targets. What I particularly like about Antti’s analyses is how he handles the company’s potential future scenarios, through which I have come to understand what kind of investment target it is and what one should pay special attention to. In many of the companies he covers, it is very difficult to see the future and set target prices, but I think Antti knows how to bring out all the risks and opportunities in his analyses so that I can, in a way, use the analysis to more independently observe the company and decide whether this stock might fit my portfolio or not.
I would imagine that as an optimistic, positive, and progressive, intelligent guy, he is also developing and driving Inderes forward in other ways than “just” as an analyst.
1. Tell us in thirty words who you are.
I am a 29-year-old ordinary guy from Espoo 
living in Tapiola with my wife. My career path, spanning about 9 years of Industrial Engineering and Management studies, has gone through oil product transport, SaaS sales, and management consulting to equity analysis of technology companies.
2. Tell us three things that forum members don’t know about you.
During my years at Inderes, I have been involved in, among other things, the restructuring of Flik’s team structure, Inderes’ strategy work, the development of Inderes’ distribution partnerships, building the Nordic dimension of the analysis, evaluating the IPO readiness of companies considering listing, and development projects for the analysis team. Due to the time required by other responsibilities, the number of companies I cover has correspondingly remained smaller - good analysis cannot be done without sufficient time spent. Other projects are flexible enough to accommodate analysis, and I think combining these has worked well.3. What interests and hobbies do you have? You are not allowed to mention anything related to investing.
All hobbies and activities that clear the mind from work stuff are of interest! These are a must as a counterbalance to expert work, or you can never get your thoughts away from work. Running, lifting weights, golf, and cooking are at the top right now. By the way, you should try brainstorming recipes with ChatGPT, it works surprisingly well and also makes you a shopping list and instructions 
4. What is a typical weekday like for you?
Result days mostly follow the same pattern, otherwise, there is a huge amount of variation. The press releases of covered companies also sometimes turn already planned days upside down Usually, outside of the earnings season, however, some extensive report or other project related to the development of Inderes is underway, which takes up the largest chunk of the day’s time. Outside the earnings season, the basic pattern is nevertheless along these lines:
5. Could you briefly describe what kind of investor you are?
GARP (Growth at reasonable price) perhaps best describes my basic style 
I strive to own companies whose business I believe will grow with high probability over the next 5-10 years. In the portfolio’s good companies, I sometimes turn a blind eye to the price and trim holdings relatively moderately when valuation levels stretch. As a starting point for new investments, however, I want to see the conditions for a double within 3 years with sufficiently conservative assumptions. Every investment target should also be known so well that there is a clear understanding of fair value so that market fluctuations do not cause unnecessary panic. But we are only human, and I have also strayed from this framework I also make small investments in early-stage, riskier companies.
**6. Could you briefly explain what kind of investment history you have?**In 2012, I bought my first direct equities with my summer job money, Kesko and Talvivaara. Shortly after, a bit of Sampo. I didn’t do any DD at all, and I paid my first tuition fees on those initial picks, fueled by, among other things, beavers. From those years up until 2018, I went largely as a monthly-saving index investor (partially due to my previous employer’s trading/ownership restrictions), but with an interest in business operations, my heart pulled me towards stock picking, and my own journey began through the Inderes community towards analyst work and pure stock picking.
7. What is the best part of an analyst’s job? What is the least best part of an analyst’s job for you?
General logical reasoning, problem-solving, and translating difficult matters into easily understandable terms are what draw me in. In analytical work, especially diving deep into companies, identifying the most important drivers of investment stories, and communicating them to the community are top priorities for me. The continuous news monitoring that comes with the job, and thereby exposure to short-term market noise, is not quite as appealing to me. However, from time to time, information arises from the noise that one must be aware of in order to have the prerequisites to do this job well (= to also get short-term views to hit closer to home).
8. Do you feel that your trading restrictions are clearly an obstacle to better returns?
Not necessarily; I think this depends on everyone’s own investment style. Restrictions bring long-term perspective to investing and curb over-hastiness, which can improve returns for some. On the other hand, sometimes the moves I have in mind naturally don’t get made due to restrictions (e.g., transferring capital from a “value trap” to a target I personally consider better ).
9. What kind of equity portfolio do you have? Which of your current portfolio stocks has yielded the most and which has yielded the least?
My portfolio contains a relatively large number of companies from the sector I follow, meaning the weight is particularly on software products and services (approx. 40-50% of the portfolio here). I believe the tech sector will continue to increase its share of the economy over the next 10 years and that good companies will create value far into the future. Otherwise, there are all kinds of companies from machinery shops to banks. I left Inderes shares out of this; I feel that rather than being an investment, they are more about reinforcing the entrepreneurial feeling in my own work
As an analyst, my own requirement level for knowing my holdings has increased. In the companies I cover, this naturally happens very well, but I also utilize my colleagues’ reports to reach a sufficient depth - so the portfolio is focused on Finland for now, but in the future, I would increasingly see Swedish companies too I also feel a great responsibility for my own views and make investments according to my own analytical views. In my opinion, my own mistakes and successes must also be visible in my own portfolio.
The portfolio row with the biggest loss is currently Nightingale (-74%), where my initial strongly positive view of business development clearly went wide of the mark, at least in the short term. At the top of the winners are Qt & Harvia (~+ 50-80%), from which the best purchase batches have already been trimmed a bit.
10. What is your stock-picking process step by step?
I keep a list of companies that I consider high-quality and value-creating in the long term. Usually, a company gets on the list after I read an analysis/talk with the analyst about the company, after which my own understanding of the company’s fair value range begins to form. After this, I monitor buying opportunities in these companies that meet my return requirement. The process does not work for quick market movements in companies unknown to me, but it fits well with my own strategy, where I want to find good companies suitable for long-term holding and buy them at sensible prices
11. Do you think about macro issues at all in your stock picking? Do you try to time the market?
I think about macro, but I look at it especially from the companies’ perspective - how and with what intensity does the development of the macro environment affect companies’ earnings outlooks (forecasts) and valuation levels (= development of the return requirement)? I at least don’t admit to practicing timing directly cash should still accumulate more in a tightly valued market when fewer targets exceeding my own return requirement can be found. Conversely, cash should find better targets when market expectations are more conservative.
12. What are your most important sources of information for investing if Inderes cannot be mentioned?
Companies’ own investor communications. From the reports, I am particularly interested in the figures, and from the earnings calls, I seek a feel for management’s reliability / communication style (leaning towards optimism vs. balanced). As a key subcategory of this information source is also the management of companies directly, whom you can reach as an analyst and nowadays luckily also as ordinary investors through open Q&A When talking to management, you hear valuable industry information, and by talking to several companies, you get a pretty good picture of the direction of the market and sector operators. Of course, we try our best to convey these in the analyses as well, so I think I broke the question’s rule here
13. Tell us in thirty words per company what you think of these stocks:
- Efecte
A growing SaaS company that has steadily progressed and gradually accumulated the characteristics of a high-quality company over the past few years. The current market shift was well received, and sales were directed at the right time to a better-performing public sector. In my opinion, the price is not at all at a bad level considering the performance and outlook.- LeadDesk
A SaaS company that has found a recipe for international growth and has an interesting competitive position in Europe. The market still seems to view the company with caution due to the cyclical nature of its growth (e.g., the energy crisis) and the challenges of a previous acquisition (Loxysoft). However, the growth expectations priced into the company feel unnecessarily low.
- Qt
A high-quality global software product company equipped with an efficient sales engine and a competitive product family. In the software sector, the company’s figures are strong even on a global scale. There is a lot of positivity in the price, but in my opinion, for good reasons. The growth pace and the duration of continued growth in the coming years will determine the return expectation.
- Witted
An IT service company whose operating model was built to win the talent war. Over the past year, the talent war quickly faded into the background, and the company began shifting the organization’s focus to sales. The cost structure is flexible in price competition. The share price is cheap if the turnaround succeeds and profitability starts to strengthen toward the company’s target level.
14. Now for a somewhat impossible and semi-confused question; you follow growth stocks quite a bit, so how do you see their situation in the current market environment?
Good growth companies create value in this market as well - to quote Sauli, “The importance of stock picking is emphasized” expectations and valuation multiples in the technology sector are conservative/neutral in many places, and in my opinion, there is more room for positive than negative surprises in many companies. However, financing is tight, meaning it is justified to demand good compensation for bearing financing risks in negative cash flow companies.
15. Do you get help for your work from the Forum? If you do get help, what kind of help?
Definitely! The community brings good insights from within industries and other sources. In addition, challenges regarding the companies you cover are important; these force you to structure your own thoughts and also bring new insights. This work would also be boring if the analysis didn’t have an audience interested in it and willing to discuss
16. You have to choose four people from the Forum to manage your portfolio for five years, who would you choose and why?
timontti digs up targets even more actively than myself from outside Finland & Inderes’ coverage and probably puts together a good portfolio of reasonably priced growth companies. He also seems to time his purchases and sales considerably better than yours truly I believe Mauri has a bright future ahead of him as a stock picker 
though I wouldn’t dare to look at the contents or weightings of this portfolio along the way 17. What kind of goals do you have in investing? Do you have any euro-denominated goals or a goal to beat the index?
Learning and financial security are probably foremost. There is also a certain thrill to the idea that with portfolio returns, one could choose to leave working life and retire earlier than the official retirement age 
though up to now I have always enjoyed the intellectual challenge brought by my work and don’t think I would even want to do that. Of course, one has to acknowledge here that there has been a lot of luck involved in ending up in work that motivates me
18. What is the best thing about working at Inderes?
Culture: Freedom, responsibility, humanity, and quality.
Ever since my student days, I have worked in places that valued taking ownership/responsibility and a certain entrepreneurial way of doing things. At Inderes, it has been easy to build responsibilities according to one’s own passions, and here you don’t have to worry about stepping on someone else’s toes - rather, colleagues are happy if you can solve a problem off their desk I also like that our team ‘isn’t just working here’, but cares about the quality of our work and genuinely wants to reform the financial sector to be more egalitarian. This is a good place for a person to be 
19. How could Alokas learn to pick the best growth stocks for his portfolio? He currently has a pretty boomer portfolio.
In my opinion, it’s important for everyone to find a suitable investment style for themselves; there’s nothing wrong with a boomer portfolio either if it aligns with one’s investment style I also think myself that not all opportunities to make a return in the market are my investment style and meant for me.
As a growth investor, I like the idea of always having a list in my back pocket of companies that have been thoroughly vetted to a certain point and proven good, from which one can select picks for the portfolio when the valuation looks attractive. In these, I think it’s important to go deep enough into the company to understand the scenarios for sustainable growth rate (and profitability) over time and to be skeptical about the sustainability of rapid growth spurts occurring in the short term. At the same time, small bumps don’t cause an itch to sell like perhaps in lightly researched companies, when the drivers of the company’s business are internalized well enough and one’s own view is on a strong footing. Researching companies with a curious attitude, writing down the logic of investment decisions, and post-mortems of choices (good and bad) is a good way forward in this game in my opinion 20. What would you like to especially thank the forum members for?
Thank you for being here and helping us continuously do a better job for investors! There wouldn’t be much point to this work of mine if you weren’t here
Thank you Antti for the really interesting answers!
I have appreciated Antti’s work a lot, and now I appreciate him even more. I thought his answers were very sensible and educational, even if he probably didn’t specifically intend to teach anyone.
He will certainly do well in investing, especially in the long run, thanks to his optimism, patience, and his logical ability to see the big picture.
I wish everyone patience and optimism in investing, and a great weekend!
I got a lot of food for thought from Antti, here’s one example:
As a growth investor, I personally like the idea of always having a list of thoroughly vetted and proven companies in my back pocket, from which I can pick for my portfolio when valuations look attractive. In my opinion, it’s important to dig deep enough into these companies to understand the scenarios for sustainable growth rates (and profitability) over time and to remain skeptical about the sustainability of rapid short-term growth spurts. At the same time, minor bumps don’t trigger an urge to sell as they might with lightly researched companies, once the business drivers have been sufficiently internalized and one’s own thesis is on solid ground. Researching companies with a curious mindset, writing down the logic behind investment decisions, and reviewing the outcomes of choices (both good and bad) is, in my view, a good way to progress in this game.
That was a long quote, but there’s a lot in there about how I could think and what I could do. 
Regarding the upcoming interviewees:
On Friday, June 16th, it’s the turn of an analyst who, when I met him at the office, turned out to be a surprisingly jolly analyst. 
On Friday, June 23rd, it’s someone from Inderes.
The following one would perhaps be an analyst currently in their “rush years” (busy family/career stage), with whom we’ve postponed the interview a few times, but they are genuinely very busy, so the postponements have been understandable. If they can’t make it then, someone else will take their place.
Around mid-June, I might add to a certain company again or perhaps swing trade a stock. We’ll see. Well, now over the weekend is a good time to research them.
Thanks everyone and have a nice, relaxing weekend!
This Friday, it’s the turn of a competent and relaxed analyst who is clearly passionate about the industry they follow most closely. I particularly enjoy the sector overviews created by him and his colleague. Their analyses also frequently provide an excellent deep dive into the industry itself, which is a fantastic addition.
Next week, we’ll feature someone from Inderes who is a musician and a very smart, likable guy.
Have a great start to the investment week!
A couple of things:
I’m publishing an interview today, but I wanted to mention beforehand that I don’t think I could pull it off elegantly—referring to the option we considered where I wouldn’t reveal the identity immediately, e.g., by blurring the photo and name. However, in the intro text itself, I tend to want to mention the person’s name a few times, and in today’s case, the analyst’s sector, etc. I thought the idea was really nice and good, but I might not be able to execute it elegantly myself, even though someone else surely could.
I’ll be at a cottage on Midsummer Eve, but I intend to stick to the Friday interview schedule. There might be some challenges with the publishing part, but I’ll do my best to get the interview out on that day.
Thanks for understanding!
38. JONI GRÖNQVIST
Joni is a man Verneri Pulkkinen could kiss (see the Jatkoilla Ruoholahdessa episode where Verneri was a guest). He is a nice and highly skilled analyst who, in my opinion, has an excellent understanding of not only the companies he follows but also the industry as a whole. I generally like Inderes’s way of handling the sectors of the companies they follow, and I think, for example, Joni and Frans cover the IT services sector exceptionally well, which helps a small investor like me a lot in stock picking.
In the videos, I think it shows how Joni knows how to open up even relatively difficult things so that even someone unfamiliar with the subject can get a grasp of what it’s really about. The ability to summarize and find the most essential points are his strengths, which I think is an important quality in this field, as there is “too much” information and all kinds of material available.
Experience and broad expertise are perhaps why Mr. Grönqvist is able to explain things so clearly, focusing on the most essential matters. Joni’s enthusiasm also comes across well to the listener in the videos, which certainly helps an investor learn and enjoy his videos.
In person, he is quite a funny “lyytikko” (analyst).
1. Tell us in thirty words who you are.
A father of two young girls in his late 30s. Education-wise an M.Sc. (Econ.) with a background in more traditional analysis models and also financial roles. A hybrid of a country person and a city dweller.
2. Tell us three things the forum members don’t know about you.
A mix of a potato farmer lineage from Sipoo and a small boy’s lineage that fled the war twice from Karelia.
The unofficial holder/creator of the Joni’s Famous trademark, known in Sweden as Bävergäll. It is a velvety smoky drink reminiscent of whiskey. It works well as a flavor in food and drinks. The ingredient is a beaver’s scent gland.
I do not own a Mercedes, unlike many others in analysis.
3. What interests and hobbies do you have? You can’t say anything related to investing.
Hunting
Golf
and of course, spending time with my girls
Cooking, when there is time for it.
4. What is a typical weekday like for you?
Wake up at 7:00 a.m. at the latest, girls to daycare, and at the computer around 8:00 a.m. In addition to work, I do a check-up round (or rounds) at the office every day to ensure the atmosphere is positive. In the afternoon, picking up the ladies from daycare, and in the evening, I continue working if needed. Socializing in the evenings.
5. Could you briefly describe what kind of investor you are?
Growth stocks, medium/long horizon. I like cases where the strategy holds, which shows that the market and the company’s own strengths are under control. Small companies whose mispricing institutions cannot correct. I only invest in companies I know well or my friends know well. This way, diversification is not as critical. Leverage is always in use, but in a controlled manner.
6. Could you briefly explain your investment history?
I acquired my first shares at the age of 15. Sometimes more, sometimes fewer shares. When I was younger, a larger share of income also went to traveling and experiences. However, making deals and profits has been on my mind since I was young. Not just stocks. Apartments and land are also in the portfolio.
7. How has working as an analyst changed you as an investor? do trading restrictions bother you?
I don’t trade actively, so the restrictions of an analyst’s work don’t bother me in that sense. Of course, occasionally, if I disagree with a case and cannot sell or buy because it goes against the corresponding analyst’s recommendation, then it bothers me a bit. At such times, it’s good to get to know the company and that analyst’s view more closely to see if I still agree or if my opinion changed.
8. As an analyst, do you see the IT services sector companies you are passionate about through rose-colored glasses? How do you see this sector if we look several years ahead?
I wouldn’t say there are rose-colored glasses 
when looking at the sector’s fundamentals, the demand outlook looks good and there are also negative recommendations (and there were even more recently) in the sector.
Outlook: a very interesting sector that will be a part/central part of the operations of many other sectors. In the big picture, an attractive sector especially in the medium and long term, but due to company-specific differences and strategy phases, one must pick the right horses at any given time.
9. What kind of portfolio do you have at the moment? Which two companies in your portfolio do you trust the most right now and why?
I currently own 11 companies. Clearly, the majority of the portfolio is naturally Inderes, and other investments are relatively small.
Inderes - I trust the personnel, management, company strategy, and competitiveness.
10. How do you think about your portfolio’s diversification, or do you think about the diversification aspect at all?
Diversification in general is surely a good thing. However, my investment style involves wanting to know the companies and being able to follow them actively. Because of this, it doesn’t scare me that clearly over 90% of my shares are in Inderes.
11. Analyze these companies in 30 words per company.
A very interesting growth company in the niche automation market. Digital Workforce has strong historical evidence of growth in the Nordics and is now seeking growth in the UK and USA. An interesting year ahead, considering growth markets, market uncertainty, a change of CEO, and a well-started focus on profitability/turnaround.
For years, Gofore has proven to be at the top of the Finnish listed companies in the IT services sector and is becoming comparable even to top international peers. Rarely can you get the top of the sector so affordably.
Siili’s investment profile has strengthened into an earnings grower following a good turnaround in recent years. We estimate that earnings growth in the coming years will be driven by international operations, although there is still potential in the Finnish operations as well. After acquisitions, the company is on a clearly firmer and broader base than before and is ready to aim for the target bar set a year ago for the coming years in terms of growth and profitability.
12. What is the least nice part of an analyst’s job and why?
The correct phrasing is “least,” because generally, the majority is pleasant. Being wrong, however, is clearly the least nice part. One must then also learn from being wrong.
13. Inderes is expanding rapidly into Sweden; are there interesting companies in the IT services sector in Sweden? Has Inderes’ expansion into Sweden affected your work?
CombinedX and Knowit are, among others, interesting in Sweden. Inderes’ expansion into Sweden has affected my work in the sense that if we get analysis of IT service companies in Sweden, there are clear synergies in the work. We have been looking at Swedish companies for a while already, but now we have even more motivation to familiarize ourselves with them.
14. You have to choose two people from Inderes and two from the forum to handle your job for a year, who would you choose and why?
Frans-Mikael ”Don Franco” Rostedt already knows the IT services sector well, so he’s the first choice.
Yu ”code wizard” Gong is the second choice.
Johannes Sippola and Sijoittaja-alokas, because they are already active in discussions about IT services sector companies anyway.
PIng: @Frans-Mikael_Rostedt, @Yu_Gong and @Johannes_Sippola
15. You are a very competent analyst; what area of investing would you like to learn more about and why?
I would like to learn to know other sectors better on the side and learn from their dynamics for my own investing and analysis.
16. If we don’t count company threads in your own field, which threads do you prefer to read on the Forum?
Unfortunately, I don’t have time to read other threads that much right now due to the “busy years” (of family and career). The Forum would certainly be one good way to increase knowledge about other sectors and companies.17. Do you have any concrete goals for your investing? Are there any specific targets in euros?
I don’t have concrete goals in that regard. Probably one good metric is outperforming the market, but the starting point is that it should be a clearly superior return. One must also take other investments into account here, not just stocks.
18. Has the wealth brought by investing brought anything concrete and positive to your life?
It provides security, but the hunger remains. The use of leverage also means you have to stay alert and there must be cash flow.
19. Do you have a tip that would help Alokas pick the best IT service sector companies for their portfolio?
The top performers in the sector over recent years are likely to be good investments, at least in the medium term. In the short term, stock picking is emphasized, as valuation, the stage of the strategy, and the operational trend are important to consider.
20. What would you especially like to thank the forum members for?
For a very vibrant discussion forum with high quality, where you can find answers to almost any theme. You could say it’s the Google of investing.
Best regards,
Joni
Kiitos Joni haastattelusta!
In a way, especially through Joni and Frans’s excellent industry reviews, I’ve come to better understand the importance of “industry insight” in stock picking. I’ve learned to think more about competitors and to make better comparisons between players in the field.
It’s great when experience and enthusiasm come in the same package. He is, as Sippola said: a jättekiva (really great) analyst.
Thank you and a relaxing Friday to everyone!
Joni’s interview reminded me that it’s worth reading through one of Joni’s and Frans’s extensive reports on an IT services sector company, because it gives a good overview of the whole sector.
As a shareholder in Gofore and Siili, among others, I also find the sector interesting and have tried to pick the right ones for my portfolio. To quote Joni’s answer:
Outlook, a very interesting sector that will be a part/central part of the operations of many other sectors. In the big picture, an attractive sector especially in the medium and long term, but due to company-specific differences and strategy phases, you have to pick the right horses at any given time.
Although I now look at the industry more closely when picking companies, quite often I still research and follow the industry and the competitors of my “potential buy candidates” a bit too poorly. By reading the extensive reports (free for everyone), you often get a good grasp not only of the company but also its industry and competitors.
This summer, there are interviews coming up with community team members, analysts, and of course forum members, as well as one very interesting guy who is also remotely related to Inde in his own way.
Not much else; excellent investment discussions to everyone and have a nice Friday!
P.S. If I remember correctly, I’ll be receiving 2800 euros in tax refunds at the start of July, and I’m pretty sure which stock they’re going into, but I still need to do some research. 
(Joni always has this “relaxed cool” posture when appearing before an audience… he clearly has things under control. )
This Friday, we have an interview with a very likable and friendly member of the Inderes team.
He has a versatile skill set and, as some of you might have noticed, he knows the Forum and its members inside out. One colleague at Inderes told me: “…on the forum, (person’s name) is like a fish in water…”.
I don’t know this guy all that well as an investor yet, but I’ll be getting his answers to my questions soon, so I’ll find out shortly. That said, based on our chats at the office, he is a true power user of both Inderes’s services and the Forum.
I have to add at the end that it’s great to be on vacation – sleep and a flexible schedule are doing me good. Secondly, I want to say that the quality of discussion in the investment threads remains high, although activity is always a bit lower during the summer.
Have a great week, everyone!
Even though tomorrow is Midsummer Eve, I will be publishing an interview then regardless.
This summer, there are interviews with Inderesians lined up, followed by at least one company representative, and of course, interviews with forum members as well. I also managed to get a pretty nice name for an interview—someone who is surely familiar through Inderes, though perhaps not so much from the Forum.
I’m re-reading @Joni_Gronqvist’s interview today, specifically because it covered the IT services sector, where I have a fair amount invested.
39. TOMI VALKEAJÄRVI
Tomi is a fresh addition to the Community Team, who has already received a lot of great feedback in a short time both from the Ruoholahti crew and the Forum folks. He radiates great enthusiasm and passion for investing and everything surrounding it, and I also notice that he knows the Forum and its members… like the back of his hand.
He is a very pleasant and socially talented guy whose previous work history and personality are ideally suited for a community builder. As I hinted earlier, he is and has been a heavy consumer of Inderes’ materials and the Forum, so for these reasons as well, it’s safe to say that he is a true “dream recruit.”
I especially look forward to seeing his “mark” increasingly visible over time on Inderes’ social media channels, materials, and the Forum — no pressure, Tomi! 
Through this interview, you will get to know our new community builder very deeply.
1. Tell us in thirty words who you are.
I am a 30-year-old nature-loving community builder at Inderes, living in Matinkylä, Espoo, who married my wonderful wife in June and is full of the joy of life.
2. Tell us three things that forum members don’t know about you.
3. What interests and hobbies do you have? You are not allowed to mention anything related to investing.
My hobbies have changed somewhat over the years, but ever since I discovered metal music in the 6th grade through Linkin Park, Metallica, Slipknot, etc., it has been a dominant part of my life, and I still listen to music daily. Heavy music has admittedly become even heavier, but on the other hand, I’ve also found lighter listening as a counterbalance to double-bass drumming and explosive breakdowns. Another long-standing hobby of mine has been photography (as well as videography), which I also started around the same time and which later became my profession.
Nowadays, in my free time, I like to cycle, jog, read, hike, fish, and go to the sauna, among other things. In addition to these, I actively played floorball at a competitive level from the age of 7 until high school age, after which I played occasionally in casual teams, and now after COVID, floorball has been on a break again, but it would be nice to play again one day. Furthermore, I’ve always liked all kinds of yard work and crafts. I really hope that in retirement I’ll get to tinker with all sorts of things. 
4. What is a normal weekday like for you?
I start my day by waking up early enough to have time to enjoy my morning coffee in peace while eating breakfast. 
At the same time, I read the latest messages that have come to the forum during the evening and morning in the threads I follow. Then I head to the bus stop, from where I get to the Ruoholahti office in about fifteen minutes.
My tasks vary slightly from day to day, but typically my day includes reading reports and preparing for the next interview, editing and publishing videos, publishing Inderes content on social media, as well as some graphic design and writing.
Once I get home, I eat dinner, after which my wife and I usually go for a walk along the shoreline path. Feel free to say hello if you happen to cross paths with me sometime! During the evening, I might read a book, listen to music, potter around with household chores, or listen to podcasts.
5. Could you briefly describe what kind of investor you are?
I have decided in my strategy to allocate 50% of my investments to stocks and the other 50% to low-cost index funds and ETFs. I ended up with this compromise because, based on my current investment history, I cannot yet be sure whether I will be able to beat the index. However, the role of luck in returns decreases year by year, so over time I can gradually tweak this allocation one way or the other based on how my stock picking has performed.
However, I wouldn’t give up stock picking entirely even if I were to lose to the index. As a legend of our era stated, investing is a hobby that you sometimes also have to pay for. Stock picking is the spice of this game, though, and without it, it would certainly be hard to maintain the same passion for the sport.
6. Could you briefly explain what kind of investment history you have?
I was on the verge of starting to invest back in high school. I had chosen chemistry as one of the subjects to take for my matriculation exams, but I wanted to switch out of it after just the first course, and I needed to come up with another subject to replace it. The replacement turned out to be social studies, which later also offered an optional course on investing. At that time, however, investing left a really dry impression, and I imagined it was pointless to even start with small sums. (How wrong I was 
.) Thus, the matter was forgotten for years.
Throughout my student years, I had lived largely on student loans, but upon graduating, when I got my first job as a real estate photographer while also doing other photography gigs as an entrepreneur, small sums slowly started to accumulate in my savings, and only then did I awaken to the idea of investing. Did it make sense to let money idle in a bank account that didn’t even pay interest?
I made my first fund subscriptions in 2019 through my own bank and monitored daily with starry eyes as a return (literally) of a few euros graced the return column. Not many months passed before I emptied the fund units, opened an account with Nordnet, and bought Neste as the first stock in my portfolio.7. What has it been like working in the Community Team? What are the best lessons about investing that you have learned during your short time at Inderes?
I have never experienced as warm a welcome to a new community as when I started at Inderes. I was noticed and helped to get started really well from day one. I would therefore like to thank all the members of the Community Team and the other “Indereseans” for the warm welcome!
Working at Inderes has been just as enjoyable as I had hoped, if not even more so. I feel that I have been able to utilize my previous skills right from the start, as well as learn new things. However, I would be lying if I claimed that I had become a better investor in just over a month. Rather, it feels like the more time I have to study, the more questions arise. Fortunately, I have some of the best professionals in the field as colleagues from whom I can draw knowledge!
8. What does your portfolio look like? What are your three largest holdings and why?
I have only bought one small batch of Nordea myself, and I received the rest from my parents and grandmother. I am deeply grateful to them for this, and this has partly sparked my interest in investing. Their reasoning has largely been to buy a large and stable Nordic bank that churns out high dividend yields year after year.
Sampo may be boring, but it is an excellent insurance group operating in perhaps the world’s most favorable insurance market in the Nordics. This also encapsulates my thought of whether I would sleep peacefully at night if I wasn’t allowed to sell the stock for ten years.
Qt is a company whose future I want to see, but determining an acceptable valuation level for it is not the easiest task.
9. You also have funds, what are your three largest fund holdings and why?
A cost-effective way to diversify into the technology sector, where I want to maintain a fairly large weight.
This has been easy to buy even with small amounts. However, the intention is to slowly shift its weight to the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF, which is even a bit cheaper in terms of fees.
Practically the same reasoning as the previous one, and regarding this as well, I am considering potentially more cost-effective alternatives or the general need to diversify into a global index as well.
10. What is your step-by-step stock-picking process?
When buying domestic stocks, I largely rely on Inderes’ content (analysis, analyst interviews, management interviews, earnings releases, Capital Markets Day presentations, etc.), but in the case of foreign companies, the process is more laborious. When I find an interesting company, I first read the company’s own presentation materials, listen to the latest earnings call, look at analyst consensus estimates and the company’s most recent figures. However, if after these steps I still do not understand the company’s business well enough, cannot evaluate the company’s prospects, or the valuation looks too steep, I pass on buying.
11. Analyze these three companies in 30 words per company.
-Incap
An internationally operating contract manufacturer specializing in electronics manufacturing services that has grown strongly in recent years. An interesting opportunity and plenty of potential, but reliance on a single largest customer clearly raises the risk profile.
-LapWall
A manufacturer of wooden elements and a construction industry company. Focused on wall elements and especially roof elements, where it holds a huge 70% market share. Good prerequisites for significant value creation in the longer term.
-Nordea
The Nordic banking prime, which has successfully turned the ship’s course from the challenges of previous years. Currently in stellar earnings shape and distributing a significant dividend alongside share buybacks.
12. Which of the Community Team’s achievements deserves more attention and why?
It is too difficult to single out just one piece of content here. @Verneri_Pulkkinen’s 15-Minuters are completely peerless, and when @Antti_Jarvenpaa Has Something to Say, it’s worth listening to Antti. I could listen to @Marianne_Palmu’s macro knowledge from morning till night. Isa is doing a tremendously huge job to conquer Sweden. Without @Erno_Hilvenius, Inderes’ trajectory would certainly have looked very different, and I don’t know if we would be at this point without Erno’s talent and passion for developing Inderes. @Ville_Kivinen’s technical and artistic expertise is invaluable in content development, production, and finding new technologies. @Miika_Purola is a multi-talented person who can do practically everything from coding to video editing and crunching mathematical formulas. @Kaisa_Vanha-Perttula’s professionalism came across in the videos from the very first days, and the positive spirit she radiates is admirable. @Jeremias_Makkonen is unfortunately moving on to new challenges shortly, but leaves big boots to fill.
13. What are your most important information sources for investing and why? You cannot mention Inderes.
Quartr
A really good app where you can find company earnings calls and other presentations in audio format. In fact, Quartr also has many webcasts streamed on our Videosync platform in audio format, so in that sense, you can find Inderes content here as well.
Companies’ own investor relations pages
I often like to start familiarizing myself with companies by exploring their own materials, as they often provide general-level presentation materials that give a good grasp of the company’s business if it is not familiar beforehand.
MarketscreenerI often check Marketscreener for analyst consensus estimates and other key figures, but when investing in Finnish companies, I mainly rely on Inderes’ analyses.
Macrotrends
Here you can find great historical figures for companies, which helps put forecasts and current figures into perspective with the past.
14. You have to choose 2 forum members, 2 analysts, and 2 other Inderes employees whom you must authorize to manage your portfolio for the next five years. Who would you choose and why?
Forum Portfolio Managers
I feel like naming several here, and the choice is difficult. The forum has a vast number of experienced and successful investors, and surely not all of have even brought their expertise to the broader public’s attention. However, I will choose the pig brothers @Kale-possu and @musa_2. I would gladly entrust my portfolio to their care for five years.
Analyst Portfolio Managers
From the analysts, I would name the duo @Sauli_Vilen & @Juha_Kinnunen. Vilén’s long experience in the financial sector combined with Kinnunen’s cool-headedness and admirably precise analytical work would undoubtedly form a portfolio team capable of weathering even the biggest market turmoils. 
Inderes Portfolio Managers
I rely on the expertise of the community team and would name @Verneri_Pulkkinen and @Erno_Hilvenius as portfolio managers. In their hands, my portfolio would likely have a suitable balance of growth and more stable value companies.
15. What are the two most useful threads on the Forum for you and why?
Definitely the most interesting thread for me is the “Pörssien suunta” (Market Direction) thread, and secondly, I’d like to say all company threads in general. In these, the level of discussion is almost without exception very high, and following the discussion keeps you well up to date on both global macro events and the latest news on individual companies. In addition, the company threads occasionally feature admirably deep dives into the development of companies’ businesses and, in appropriate amounts, also light-hearted challenges toward the analysts.
16. How do you manage your emotions in investing? Do you practice or read things related to investment psychology?
By nature, I am very calm and patient, which helps manage emotions when things are turbulent around me. I haven’t read books specifically dedicated to investment psychology, but many of the books I have read have covered the topic, and often those have been very interesting reads. I have also read a few mind-control-related books that have had quite good lessons.
17. What kind of goals do you have in investing? Do you have any percentage or euro-denominated targets?
Of course, it’s interesting to play around with numbers and percentages and paint various scenarios, but I haven’t set any clear targets for myself because I’m afraid that getting locked into those numbers would create unnecessary pressure and distract from focusing on what’s essential. Naturally, comparing performance to the index return is an easy metric to review one’s own actions.
18. What is the best part about working at Inderes and why?
The best part about working at Inderes has been the people you get to do this work with, as well as the opportunity to develop oneself. I’ve also been able to utilize my previous skills at Inderes, but there is still plenty to learn, which helps maintain motivation.
19. Do you have any tips for Alokas on how he could beat the index in the long run?
I don’t think I’m very qualified to give index-beating tips, since I don’t even know if I can do it myself. 
However, I would imagine that studying always pays off. Emotional control is also an important part of investing to avoid unnecessary hustle. Believe in yourself and strive with determination toward the goals you have set for yourself, and I am sure you will develop into an excellent investor in the long run and create the prerequisites for beating the index.
20. Who do you want to especially thank the forum members for?
I want to warmly thank all the forum members. You share the same passion for investing, which has made the birth of this unique community possible. Have a great summer everyone!
Thanks Tomi for the very interesting answers!
It’s great that we got a guy like this to take care of our community. A smart guy who understands the community, and who has the enthusiasm for investing and developing Inderes.
Tomi stated in the interview: “By nature, I am very calm and patient, which helps manage emotions when things are turbulent around me.” Investing is a “time sport”, so this kind of moderate calmness and patience pay off in the long run – so don’t rush and stay resilient. At least I should take a cue from Tomi in these matters as well.
Thanks and have a great Midsummer!
Next Friday, it’s the turn of a forum member who has opened excellent + important threads on the Forum and has also written analytical posts in various threads, including the Tecnotree (Teknopuu) thread. This person writes with precision and rich content, and it’s also nice that the posts are always beautifully formatted.
Various interesting interviews will be released every Friday this summer, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
Wishing you a pleasant and peaceful remainder of Midsummer!
This summer, there will be interviews with analysts, a company representative, someone with a slightly larger portfolio, and a person closely associated with Inderes.
Above is the updated list of interviews. It’s worth reading through every interview, as there’s a lot to learn from each one.
