It’s such a pleasure being along on this journey

Kristin Nordin is COO of the bank’s new Private Wealth Management & Family Office (PWM&FO) division. She has been with SEB since 2000, when she started at what was then the telephone bank while studying at Stockholm University.

The telephone bank was a good way to learn about the bank as well as its customers. It also gave Kristin a foothold into SEB full-time, where she has subsequently worked in many different parts of the bank, from Private Banking and LC&FI to working with AML.

“I have green blood in my veins from the many roles I’ve had and through which I’ve got to know the entire bank,” she says. “Now I’m back in an area that I like a lot, plus we’re in a phase where we are building a modern offering based on what our customers look like and what they want. It’s such a pleasure being along on this journey!”

Three focus areas

In her role as COO of the new division, Kristin’s focus is on three areas. First is on building a strong risk and regulatory management function, where the goal is to establish a global credit committee and gain control over all types of risk. The second focus area involves building further upon the business development team to create a transformation and development office.

“Simply put, this involves creating a resource pool that will enable segment and product managers to transform how we meet our customers and what we offer them,” Kristin explains. “As a product manager, of course it is important to take ownership and responsibility for development of your product; but you can’t do this on your own – you need help along the way. We will therefore have competencies on hand to provide support in, for example, project management, development, customer journeys, and other areas where we may need assistance.”

The third area that Kristin is currently working with involves building up a global onboarding hub to improve the customer journey.

“We will be streamlining and digitalising our customer journey to make it easier to become an SEB customer,” she says. “First and foremost we are doing this by enabling customers to be onboarded globally at once without having to go through the same process in many countries. What’s most important about this entire new customer journey is that we are creating a service where our customers feel that someone has responsibility for them and can guide them through the process.”

A lot of new colleagues will be needed to make the new, global onboarding hub a reality.

“We will be strengthening ourselves considerably, and this means searching for a lot of people who can help us, especially with technical development. If you have a passion for providing good service, making customers feel welcome and helping the bank grow, then we have a spot for you.”

Power is with the people

The greatest strength of the new division is its people, if you ask Kristin Nordin. “We are a people business, and we have incredibly talented employees who have energy, ideas, and who are very smart. The power and competence exists within our teams, so it’s important that we can help each other achieve success by unleashing potential and leading our employees in the best way possible.”

Today, the customers that the new division is targeting look different compared to what they’ve looked like historically.

“There is a vast customer universe for us to work with today,” notes Kristin. “We have entrepreneurs who have worked day and night to build up their fortunes, just as we have families who recognise the importance of managing the wealth they have had for generations. Both have a strong passion at the core, and it is this that we will help them develop. At the same time, we have a wide diversity of customers that we must be able to serve in a way that suits them while offering them products and services that meet their needs.”

Horse lover from hockey country

Kristin was born and raised in Timrå, where most revolved around hockey, even though it was horses and skiing that interested Kristin the most. From Timrå she sought an education in Brighton, where she gained the opportunity to do an internship in the Alps, which led to two additional internships with skiing nearby in Italy and France.

“After that I worked both in Monaco and Australia, but then I felt a need to study more,” reflects Kristin. “It was then I chose to study linguistics, where I got as bachelor’s degree. I still have an interest in language and think a lot about the importance of the words we use when we communicate. In parallel with my linguistics studies I also began studying economics, which led me to my job at SEB’s telephone bank. It’s been a fun and educational journey since then, but now my focus is entirely on the exciting task we have ahead of us.”