Both of you have been working for Stena for quite a long time. Is it correct to assume that you’re not an exception?

Andy: It is indeed usual for people to stay with Stena for long. We have colleagues that have joined the company 35 years ago. Stena is a family business and very long-term oriented. We think in decades.

Per: The company’s governance model also makes it a very attractive employer, which makes people want to stay. We’re a highly decentralized organization that encourages employees to take responsibility for their actions, by giving them the authority to make decisions.

Stena is one of Sweden’s largest family-owned companies. What does Stena do?

Andy: Stena is active in shipping, it is one of the largest ferry operators worldwide. The company also owns more than 2.5 million square meters of residential and commercial real estate in Sweden’s largest cities. In Switzerland, we focus on shipping, insurance, and investments. Not all the activities of the Olsson family are under the same corporate structure, this is why we talk of the “Stena sphere”, which in addition to Stena AB group comprises the recycling company Stena Metall and Stena Sessan, which invests in early-stage companies with the potential to grow very large.

Stena (Switzerland) has joined Constructive Venture Fund as the fifth founding partner. What was your motivation behind that?

Per: We invest across many different asset classes. Given this opportunity, we said, let’s look at early stage investments that are related to the core activities of Stena, in the field of mobility, cleantech and real estate, where we can potentially contribute more than just capital. We started to look for a suitable solution that satisfies these criteria and got in contact with the team of Verve Ventures which manages Constructive Venture Fund, and their proposition sounded compelling.

But when it comes to illiquid, alternative assets, many institutional investors say they’re happy to invest only in private equity without touching venture capital.

Per: We look at a very broad investment universe, and we try to find the highest risk-adjusted returns. Through our different entities, we have a lot of experience investing in public equities, bonds, private equity, venture capital as well as other alternatives. To the extent we invest in private market assets, the ambition is to contribute with the highest possible return to the mix. In this context Venture Capital could be very interesting if done correctly. It isn’t the largest allocation, but it is a very interesting ingredient.

The idea of Constructive Venture Fund is to have corporate investors that can help startups with more than just capital, as you said. What can Stena offer in this regard?

Andy: For startups that want to expand into northern Europe and find opportunities to sell their product and services, we have a network that we can leverage. It is not just our own real estate portfolio and operations, we can make meaningful introductions to other players as well.

Per, you joined Constructive Venture Fund’s investment committee as a representative of Stena. You only just started, but what is your experience so far?

Analyzing startups is very rewarding. The reason why I love my job is that it is very interesting to dig into information about new companies and find out what value drivers are behind their business models and if there is an opportunity for them to grow. The quality of the investment memorandums that Verve’s team prepares is high, and what is more, they have thought about the business in-depth, that’s what I remarked when I asked tricky questions. The discussions with the representatives of our four co-investment partners as well as Verve has so far been very interesting, and I look forward to the continued work.