Investment
Opportunities
in the Arctic

Keynote speaker

Olafur Ragnar Grimsson

Former President of Iceland and the Founder and Chairman of the Arctic Circle

Olafur Ragnar Grimsson served as President of Iceland for twenty years, between 1996 and 2016 and was elected five times in nationwide elections. Previously, he was Minister of Finance, a Member of Parliament, Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the first Professor of Political Science at the University of Iceland. He now serves as Chairman of Arctic Circle, which he founded in 2013 with various Arctic partners. The Arctic Circle Assembly, which is held in Iceland every October, has become the largest annual international gathering on the Arctic, and is attended by more than 2000 participants from 60 countries. Arctic Circle also organizes specialized forums in other countries, including in Asia, Europe, and North America.

Before and after his presidency, President Grimsson has worked closely with members of the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Senate as well as with many key members of governments in European countries. President Grimsson served on the Advisory Board of Sustainable Energy for All, created by the United Nations and the World Bank. For decades, he has been an active participant in the global climate dialogue and during his Presidency and in recent years initiated and promoted clean energy projects worldwide using Icelandic achievements and technologies as a model. In addition to devoting his post-presidential efforts to the three areas of climate, the Arctic and clean energy, President Grimsson is also involved in international cooperation on the oceans and the evolution of the sustainable use of marine resources.

President Grimsson has received many international awards, including the Nehru Award for International Understanding, presented to him by the President of India.

 

Naalakkersuisut - Government of Greenland

Naaja H. Nathanielsen

Minister of Business, Trade, Mineral Resources, Justice and Gender Equality of Greenland

Ms. Nathanielsen is the serving minister of Business, Trade, Mineral Resources, Justice and Gender Equality of Greenland in the Government of Greenland, Naalakkersuisut. Prior to these current responsibilities, she was Minister for Finance, Minerals, Justice and Gender Equality (November 2021-September 2023) and Minister of Housing, Infrastructure, Minerals, Justice and Gender Equality (April 2021 – November 2021), and she served as an elected Inuit Ataqatigiit member of the Greenlandic Parliament, Inatsisartut, from 2009 to 2016.

Ms. Nathanielsen graduated with a Danish candidate degree in psychology from the University of Copenhagen in 2001. She has since then held several professional leadership positions, culminating in 2016 when she took the helm as Director of Prison Services in Greenland. Over the years she has been on several government committees related to financial and fiscal affairs, trade and commerce, mineral and oil resources, conservation and environmental protection efforts.

Realizing a self-sustained and environmentally sound economic future for Greenland in the long term, whilst remaining firmly anchored to the principles of solidarity and justice, rests at the core of her political project.

 

Kerecis (Medical Biotechnology)

Gudmundur Fertram Sigurjonsson

Founder and CEO

Gudmundur Fertram Sigurjonsson is the CEO and Founder of Kerecis, a pioneering biotechnology company specializing in developing innovative fish skin-based medical products for wound healing and tissue regeneration. Mr. Fertram has strong academic foundations, with a background in chemistry, engineering, and finance. His diverse career has included key roles as the Head of Wound Management at Össur and the VP of Business Development at biotech firm Keratec. He has also held various executive positions and board memberships internationally, showcasing his expertise in the field.

Leveraging his diverse background, which includes experience in software startups in Denmark and his roots in the fishing village of Isafjordur, Mr. Fertram founded Kerecis in 2009 with the innovative concept of using fish skin to heal damaged tissue. His unwavering commitment to sustainability and ethical sourcing has driven the company's reputation for responsible and eco-friendly practices. Kerecis sources its raw materials from the pristine waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, including the Arctic Circle, ensuring the high quality of the fish skin, which is exclusively sourced from Icelandic-certified sustainable fish stocks. By harnessing the natural regenerative properties of fish skin, Kerecis offers groundbreaking medical solutions and champions environmentally conscious practices in the biotechnology industry.

In July 2023, Kerecis achieved a significant milestone by becoming the first unicorn company in Iceland when it was acquired by Danish multinational company Coloplast. This achievement marked a major turning point in the company's journey and underscored its exceptional growth and potential within the biotechnology industry.

With the recent acquisition by Coloplast, Kerecis’ future in wound healing and tissue regeneration looks even brighter, solidifying its position as an innovative and socially responsible company under Mr. Fertram’s leadership.

 

Stodir (Blue Lagoon, Arctic Adventures and First Water)

Jon Sigurdsson

CEO

Jon Sigurdsson is the CEO of Stodir. He has been actively involved in the financial markets over the last two decades in both senior management positions and board roles as well as being an active investor. Mr. Sigurdsson has served as a Board Director for several companies, listed and unlisted, in Iceland and abroad. Mr. Sigurdsson was a Supervisory Board Director for Refresco B.V. from 2006 to 2018 and was actively involved in forming and implementing Refresco's M&A strategy, listing on Euronext Amsterdam, and later the full sale of Refresco and de-listing. Since 2018, Mr. Sigurdsson has focused on private investments as the Executive Chairman of the Board, and later CEO, of Stodir. Mr. Sigurdsson is currently the chairman of Siminn, Iceland's leading telecommunications company and a board member of the Blue Lagoon.

Stodir is a majority family-owned investment company with offices in Reykjavik and London. Stodir invests in listed and unlisted securities and aims to create value through active ownership and/or unlocking complex situations. The current investment portfolio comprises a leading shareholding in Siminn, significant shareholdings in financial institutions Arion Bank and Kvika Bank, a shareholding in the Blue Lagoon, a shareholding in Arctic Adventures, a tourism company, and a leading shareholding in First Water, a land-based salmon farming company.

 

Smyril line (Shipping)

Jens Meinhard Rasmussen

CEO

Jens Meinhard Rasmussen joined the Board of Directors of Smyril Line in 2008 and was Chairman of the Board from 2011 to 2021, or until he became CEO in 2021. Since 2006, Mr. Rasmussen has held the position of CEO in the related company, Skansi Offshore. He served as a Board Member and Chairman of the Board in the energy and retail company MAGN in the Faroe Islands from 2007-2021, and its parent company Skeljungur Iceland, from 2014-2020. Since 2014, Mr. Rasmussen has held the position of Chairman of the Board of Shipowners of the Faroe Islands. He also serves as a Board Member of International Chamber of Shipping in London. Mr. Rasmussen began his career as a Marine Officer, finishing his Master’s Examination in 1997, and has a Master’s degree in law (cand.jur) from the University of Copenhagen.

P/F Smyril Line was founded in 1982 as a travel and shipping company. In 1983, the company acquired its first ferry, M/S Norrøna, and commenced its first route between the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Denmark. In its 40-year history, Smyril Line has developed into a renowned travel and shipping company with subsidiaries in Iceland and Denmark as well as branches in Germany and the Netherlands. Smyril Line group’s main activity is to operate travel and cargo activities, including passenger and freight transport, door to door shipping, tourist accommodation, and other related activities.

Smyril Line group’s primary goal is to provide its customers with high quality and competitive services to and from mainland Europe with the Faroe Islands and Iceland as its primary markets. In recent years, Smyril Line has increasingly invested in vessels, trailers and other equipment, in addition to having opened port-based offices in mainland Europe.

 

Marel (Food Processing)

Tinna Molphy

Director of Investor Relations

Tinna Molphy joined Marel’s Investor Relations in 2017 and has over 20 years’ experience working with international investors, analysts, and rating agencies. She was instrumental in the dual listing of Marel on Euronext Amsterdam in 2019, which significantly increased the visibility of the Marel brand and provided broader access to an international investor base, resulting in Marel’s international shareholding expanding from ~3% to ~30%. Prior to joining Marel, Ms. Molphy had 14 years of experience in banking as Head of Investor Relations and International PR for Landsbankinn and Islandsbanki in Iceland. Ms. Molphy is a graduate of Business and Japanese from Trinity College Dublin and Senshu University in Tokyo, Japan.

Marel is the largest listed company in Iceland with around 8,000 employees in over 30 countries, and it reported annual revenues of EUR 1.7 billion in 2022. Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2023, Marel started as an idea at the University of Iceland on how to improve efficiency in the Icelandic seafood sector. Today, Marel is a leading global provider of solutions, software, and services to the food processing industry. Annually, Marel invests around 6% of revenues in innovation that enables its customers to increase yield and throughput, ensure food safety and improve sustainability in food production.

 

Arctic Green (Renewable energy)

Haukur Hardarson

Founder and Chairman

Haukur Hardarson is an entrepreneur with several successful ventures in industries across Asia, Europe, and the United States. Mr. Hardarson’s vision is to build profitable, mission-driven renewable energy and energy-efficiency companies that help combat the negative impacts of climate change. He is the founder and chairman of Arctic Green Energy, a company that is rooted in the Icelandic geothermal industry and currently has operations in Iceland, China, the Philippines, Singapore, Hungary, Slovakia and the United Arab Emirates. Arctic Green’s largest joint venture is Sinopec Green Energy with China’s Sinopec Star. Sinopec Green Energy is currently the world’s largest and fastest growing geothermal heating and cooling company. Mr. Hardarson serves as the vice chairman of SGE. In addition, Mr. Hardarson owns the investment company Blue Sky Renewables, investing in renewable energies and scalable sustainability solutions. He also has a number of real estate investments. Successful past exited ventures include Biliran Geothermal, a 50 MW geothermal energy development in the Philippines, Fitjar, a data hosting center that was powered 100% by geothermal energy, and Landmat, a company he founded and had become the world’s largest mobile marketing company when it was sold to Nokia. Mr. Hardarson has been instrumental in building commercial and educational relationships between Iceland and the fast-growing markets in Asia, particularly in China.

 

Nasdaq Iceland (Stock Exchange)

Magnus Hardarson

President

Magnus Hardarson has served as the President of Nasdaq Iceland since 2019, after having previously held the positions as the Head of Trading and the Head of Sales and Services at the Exchange. Previously he worked as an economist at the Icelandic National Economic Institute. Magnus holds a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University.

Owned by Nasdaq, Nasdaq Iceland is a part of Nasdaq Nordic that operates stock exchanges in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. A wide variety of products are traded on Nasdaq Iceland, such as shares, bonds, and ETFs. Across Nasdaq’s European Markets, there are more than 1600 employees in 14 countries and over 1000 companies listed.

 

Hampidjan (Fishing gear)

Hjortur Erlendsson

CEO

Hjortur Erlendsson is CEO of Hampidjan. He assumed the role in 2014 after serving as Managing Director of Hampidjan Baltic from 2003 to 2014 and Director of Production from 1985 to 2003. Besides management roles within Hampidjan he has been actively involved in product developments and is credited as inventor of 25 patents and patent applications.

Hampidjan was established in the spring of 1934, in the middle of the Great Depression, by thirteen individuals who gathered a small fortune to start up an industrial venture in Reykjavík to manufacture fishing gear for the local fishing fleet. Since then Hampidjan has become the world leader in producing, developing and servicing quality fishing gear as well as fish farming equipment and innovative solutions for the offshore industry. There are now 51 companies in the Hampidjan Group, servicing the world fishing fleets at 76 locations around the world, stretching all the way from Dutch Harbour in Alaska in the west and to Nelson in New Zealand in the east. Three large central manufacturing facilities are located in Lithuania, producing ropes, netting and trawls. Employees are around 2,000 in 21 geographical areas. Hampidjan is listed on the Main Market of Nasdaq Iceland.

 

Arion Bank (Financials)

Benedikt Gislason

CEO

Benedikt Gislason became CEO of Arion Bank in 2019. He has over two decades of experience in the Icelandic financial market. Since 1998 he has held a variety of managerial positions at FBA (later Islandsbanki), Straumur Investment Bank and MP Bank. Mr Gislason was vice-chairman of a government task force on the liberalisation of the capital controls between 2013-2016. He served on the board of directors of Kaupthing from 2016-2018 and the board of directors of Arion Bank in September 2018 until his appointment as CEO.

Arion Bank provides universal services to households, corporates and investors in three business segments: Retail Banking, Corporate & Investment Banking, and Markets. Their services are further augmented by the subsidiaries Stefnir Funds and Vordur Insurance. As development increases in the Arctic, Arion Bank has been forging a strategy for the region. In the last two years, Arion’s Arctic loan book has doubled in size.

 

Arion Bank (Financials)

Ida Bra Benediktsdottir

Deputy CEO and Managing Director of Retail Banking

Ida Bra Benediktsdottir has worked for Arion Bank and its predecessor since 1999 when she joined the research department. She has held various positions within the Bank, including head of department within Treasury and Head of Corporate Communications. Ms. Benediktsdottir was Managing Director of Investment Banking from 2016 to 2017. She has served on the boards of numerous companies, including Landfestar and HB Grandi hf. Ms. Benediktsdottir is also the vice chairman of the Board of Directors of Vordur Insurance.

 

BBA//Fjeldco (Legal services)

Gunnar Thor Thorarinsson

Partner and Head of London office

Gunnar Thor Thorarinsson heads the London office of BBA//Fjeldco and specialises in the legal elements of financing (whether through lending or equity investment) as well as M&A. Mr. Thorarinsson is dual-qualified to practise as a lawyer in Iceland and England and has over 20 years’ experience working with international investors as well as entrepreneurs and institutions in Iceland, the UK and further afield. He was part of the advisory team to the largest groups of creditors of the fallen Icelandic banks following the economic collapse in 2008. Gunnar is on the board of the British-Icelandic Chamber of Commerce and has served on the boards of various Icelandic and English companies.

BBA//Fjeldco’s London office also employs expert English corporate and finance lawyers with decades of experience in working with international investors in relation to Icelandic businesses and opportunities. Their understanding of the difference between UK and Icelandic approaches helps them seek solutions and ease transactions for all parties. In addition to being the leading Icelandic firm advising domestic and international clients on general corporate and transactional matters, BBA//Fjeldco is an innovator in the sustainable energy advisory sector, having participated in various projects internationally.

 

Event moderator

Fridrika Hjordis Geirsdottir 

Fridrika is a well-known media personality from Reykjavik with over 20 years of experience in media in Iceland. She has held prominent roles in television, radio, and newspapers, including producing and hosting a documentary series on NGOs in Iceland and Greenland, hosting a morning radio talk show, television news anchor and for several years she was the editor of special editions of Icelandic newspapers. Initially, Fridrika started in media as a TV chef, hosting her own shows, judging in MasterChef, and writing numerous best-selling cookbooks. Fridrika lives in Reykjavik with her husband, five teenage boys, and two golden retrievers.