The Nordic region

Nordnet's home market is the Nordic region, with about 25 million inhabitants. The company was founded in Sweden in 1996, expanded to Norway and Denmark in 2001 and continued to Finland in 2005.

The financial sector in the region has some common characteristics. All countries are more or less dominated by Jurassic banks, i.e. bricks and mortar large-cap banks, with one or two local online actors in each market. Nordnet is the only pan-Nordic online bank.

As a result of the credit crunch in 2008, confidence from Jurassic bank customers has been undermined. In the region as a whole, 1 out of 7 say they feel tricked by their bank. A general trend is to move your savings to online banks with honest pricing and simple products. As knowledge about savings is rising and the habit to manage personal finances online is increasing, more individuals choose to handle their economy themselves rather than speaking with financial advisors.

Legislation differs between the countries, especially within the pension area. In Finland, pension savers do not have the possibility to move their pension savings between different providers. However, the Nordic savings market as a whole is going through a shift where the private individual’s rights and possibilities to move assets between different providers are improved.