Meet the Nordic Asia team: Henrik Hedencrona

Please tell us briefly about yourself and your background?

I am born and raised in Gothenburg, where I have studied, holding a BSc in Economics and a MSc in Finance. I moved to Stockholm two years ago when I started to work at Nordea’s investment banking division, primarily dealing with leveraged buyouts by way of supporting private equity firms with acquisition financing – working for what I believe to be the dominating debt house in Sweden, covering a vast number of products such as bilateral debt, bonds, syndicated debt, as well as rating advisory for companies rated by S&P, Moody’s and Fitch.

Prior to Nordea I have held several positions in the financial sector, having worked with business development at JOOL Capital Partner, developing a trading platform for unlisted bonds, and before that I have spent several years at SEB in various positions, as well as Handelsbanken where I started as a trainee. Moreover, I have been running my own firm, Svenska Gårdskött, which was one of the early ecom providers of eco meat in Sweden.

Why did you decide to join Nordic Asia?

With an entrepreneurial background, having run my own firm as well as working with business development, I naturally got intrigued when I heard about this opportunity. For me, deciding to join Nordic Asia was about contributing to the creation of something new, in what I hope to be a dynamic and entrepreneurial environment. Moreover, I really find the shift to domestic consumption in the Chinese economy to be interesting and strongly believe there is more to come. What I really think is fascinating is how the domestic consumption trend has developed in parallel with the Internet and the rapid mobile Internet penetration, resulting in online being a far more natural sales channel in China than in Sweden. As a result of this I believe we are seeing more and more creative business models in China, and that is something I look forward to learning more about.

What challenges in the market do you think Nordic Asia will resolve?

I believe Swedish investors in general are not overly familiar with the Chinese investment landscape. Just try to imagine the number of companies spread out over Sweden’s 10 million inhabitants and compare it with China’s 1.4 billion – the business opportunities are endless. However, in an investment universe with countless of businesses, local trends, as well as a language barrier with much information only displayed in Mandarin, it becomes difficult for foreign investors to properly get an understanding of the market, and that is where Nordic Asia comes in.

What skills and experiences do you bring to Nordic Asia and what is your role at the company?

As CFO I am responsible for basically all financially related questions, including corporate finance, with the forthcoming IPO process and rights issues, as well as being responsible for parts of the trading set-up, accounting, regulatory questions, setting up new work structures etc.

My ambition is to utilize my previous experiences, where I on one hand hope to bring certain parts of the investment banking methodology onboard, with the structured and detail-oriented approach. I also hope to contribute with a creative mindset, paired with a strong determination, which I believe to be of value when laying the foundation for the finance division.

What are the main focus points for Nordic Asia in 2021 from a CFO perspective?

First and foremost, I will work towards establishing new and efficient work processes to enforce the financial infrastructure. Once we have a strong platform in place, I will initiate the workstreams related to the IPO process, with the ambition to go public in late 2021.

What are your visions for Nordic Asia?

I hope and believe Nordic Asia will become a market leader in its niche and the go-to investment company for Nordic investors when investing in China. My opinion is that only a few (if any) investment firms in Sweden possess the local edge as Nordic Asia does – providing the company with a unique possibility to act as an intermediary between Sweden and China.

Make sure to follow us on our exciting journey ahead!

Best Regards,

Henrik