Anjana Haines, Editor, Real Deals

Keeping your nerve when the market turns

Opening the Real Deals Nordic Forum for 2026, a founder will share reflections from their personal journey. Offering a candid view on maintaining a distinct investment strategy through macroeconomic shifts, this will be a highly practical discussion on risk, holding your ground, and delivering real cash returns against a tough regional backdrop.

Laurits Bach Sørensen, Senior Partner and Co-Founder, Nordic Alpha Partners

Waiting for the exit: is 2027 the turning point?

This panel will address the blockages holding back deployments and exits, particularly for software and growth businesses bought at the peak of the market. Regional leaders and advisers will discuss when exit windows are likely to open, how trade tariffs and geopolitical shifts impact investment flows, and how GPs can move beyond market timing to build exit readiness. Panellists will share practical strategies for pressure-testing investment theses, understanding evolving buyer motivations, and managing regulatory and stakeholder perceptions to deliver real cash returns to LPs.

Andreas Källström Säfweräng, Partner, Altor

Carina Spitzkopf, Head of DACH and Nordics Direct Lending, Partners Group

Christopher Ekdahl, Partner, Nordic Capital

Ariana Issa, Director, Risk Advisory

Carl Jakobsson, Partner, IK Partners

The reality of the IPO market: lessons from the frontline

Drawing upon the recent listing of InstallatørGruppen on Nasdaq, this conversation will focus on the reality of executing IPOs in the current market. Our speakers will discuss why certain firms choose local listings over foreign exchanges, and how to manage growth through buy-and-build strategies when holding periods extend.

Liquidity or illusion? The real value behind the secondaries surge

Welcoming you back from the break with an energetic debate on whether the secondary market and continuation vehicles can provide genuine relief for Nordic investors. Focusing on the sustainability of CVs as a long-term exit strategy, panellists will discuss the reality of using these vehicles for partial exits, how to secure liquidity for backing investors, and whether reliance on these structures indicates a genuine lack of new market growth opportunities.

Johan Nord, Senior Partner and Head of Nordic Private Equity, Cubera

Ali Sangari, Director, Hayfin

Helen Downie, Investment Director, MML Capital Partners

Michael Gentili, Head of Capital Markets, FSN Capital

Jordan Dimmock, Principal, Sagard

Nordic investors in transition: adapting to a changing GP landscape

This fast-paced session will address the changing relationship between GPs and LPs. Speakers will discuss how investors are responding to longer holding periods, whether GP-led transactions genuinely solve liquidity issues, and how co-investment relationships must adapt as fund models evolve across the region.

Moderator: Stephen Edwards, Co-Managing Partner, Soho Square Capital

Sofie Kulp-Tåg, Investment Director - Private Equity and Infrastructure, Skandia

Chloë Webster, Vice President, HarbourVest

Alan Gauld, Senior Investment Director, Patria Investments

AI, obviously: driving the conversation on origination, operations, and returns

Moderator: Erik Berggren, Independent Investor

Isabella Gillström, Vice President, Origination, Hg

Roald Hunvik, Partner, Omni Partners

Nikolaus Grefe, Practice Group Leader for AI and Data, Intapp

Sector investment strategies

Our first set of breakout sessions offers the opportunity to discuss sector specific investment strategies, and in particular the medium to long-term opportunities presented by technology, industrials and defence.

Operations and liquidity

Our second set of breakouts invite you to join one of three conversations on the theme of operations and liquidity, including novel financing options, talent and value creation, and capital and co-investment opportunities.

Turning session insights into competitive edge

This rapid fire panel will bring leaders from each of the breakout sessions to share the most compelling takeaways from their sessions - through the lens of regional and European competitiveness in a changing market. Split into two discussions of ten minutes each, we will first reflect on sector investment strategies, and then operations and liquidity.

Moderator: Roald Hunvik, Partner, Omni Partners

The Nordic edge: navigating global shifts to secure the next decade of growth

To close this year’s forum, a leading figure from the regional investment ecosystems will share a high-level perspective on the forces reshaping the Nordic economy. This will include how the region can maintain its competitive edge, manage geopolitical risk, and deploy capital effectively through the next economic cycle.

Anjana Haines, Editor, Real Deals