eQ Profit Falls 21%; New CEO Pivots to Bold 2030 Turnaround Plan

HELSINKI, FI – February 03, 2026 – Finnish asset manager eQ Plc has reported a challenging fiscal year for 2025, with operating profits tumbling 21% to €27.4 million and a corresponding cut to its proposed dividend. The disappointing results, driven by significant losses in its corporate finance and investment arms, have set a turbulent stage for new Chief Executive Officer Jouko Pölönen, who has responded by unveiling an ambitious '2030 Strategy' aimed at doubling the company's operating profit through international expansion and a new focus on private clients.

The Helsinki-based firm saw its group net revenue decline by 11% to €58.2 million for the full year. This performance has led the Board of Directors to propose a dividend of €0.52 per share, a significant reduction from the €0.66 paid out for 2024, reflecting the 21% drop in earnings per share. Despite the profit slump, the company’s total assets under management (AUM) showed resilience, growing by 3% to reach €13.8 billion by year-end, a silver lining in an otherwise difficult year.

A Tale of Diverging Fortunes

A deeper look into eQ's financial statements reveals a stark divergence in performance across its business units. The company's core Asset Management segment, while not immune to market pressures, remained the group's primary profit engine. Its net revenue saw a modest 3% dip to €56.9 million, with operating profit declining 5% to €32.0 million. The segment successfully raised over €230 million for its Private Equity and Residential funds and saw a 24% increase in performance fees. However, this stability was overshadowed by severe downturns in other areas.

The Corporate Finance segment, operating under the Advium brand, experienced a near-collapse in revenue, which plummeted 67% to just €1.7 million from €5.3 million in 2024. This resulted in an operating loss of €1.4 million, a stark reversal from the previous year's €1.5 million profit. The company attributed this to the volatile, success-fee-dependent nature of the M&A market, where deal-making activity in Finland remained below long-term averages.

Similarly, the Investments segment posted an operating loss of €0.7 million, a swing from the €1.1 million profit in 2024. According to the company, this was primarily due to negative changes in the value of its residential fund investments and the impact of a weakening US dollar on its USD-denominated holdings.

Navigating a Challenging Market

The headwinds faced by eQ's real estate and corporate finance divisions reflect broader, albeit uneven, market trends. The Finnish real estate market in 2025 was a complex environment. While transaction volumes more than doubled year-on-year to approximately €4.4 billion, signaling a recovery from the lows of 2024, market liquidity remained historically poor. This created a difficult situation for open-ended real estate funds across Finland, with several, including eQ's, having to postpone redemptions.

While eQ's struggles in corporate finance were partly tied to a sluggish M&A environment, a look at competitors suggests the company underperformed. Some Nordic rivals, such as DNB Carnegie, reported strong deal flow and advisory performance in 2025. Meanwhile, in asset management, competitor Evli Plc reported an "excellent year" with a 30% jump in comparable operating profit, fueled by strong international sales. This highlights that while market conditions were a factor, eQ's specific exposure to the struggling Finnish real estate sector and a weak year for its M&A team were significant contributors to its profit decline.

The final quarter of 2025 did, however, provide a glimmer of hope. Group operating profit for Q4 rose 15% to €8.0 million compared to the same period in 2024, suggesting a potential bottoming-out of the negative trend.

A New Captain and a New Course

Steering the company through this challenging period is Jouko Pölönen, who took the helm as CEO on September 1, 2025. A highly respected figure in the Finnish financial industry, Pölönen previously served as CEO of Ilmarinen, Finland's largest private pension insurer, and held numerous leadership roles at OP Financial Group. In a strong show of confidence, Pölönen has already become a top-ten shareholder in eQ, acquiring one million shares.

In response to the 2025 results, Pölönen and his newly appointed management team have launched the 'eQ 2030' strategy, a comprehensive plan to return the company to a strong growth trajectory. The strategy's cornerstone is the ambitious goal to double eQ's operating profit by the end of the decade.

To achieve this, eQ plans a significant pivot. While maintaining its strong institutional client base, where it is a dominant player in alternative investments, the company will expand its services to two new frontiers: international institutional clients and, notably, domestic private clients. "Our goal is to further strengthen the customer and employee experience, expand our business both internationally and to private customers, and to double our operating profit by the end of 2030," Pölönen stated in the release.

This strategic shift aims to diversify revenue streams and reduce dependency on the volatile corporate finance sector and the institution-heavy asset management business. The move to attract private wealth represents a new chapter for eQ, placing it in more direct competition with a wider array of banks and wealth managers. The success of this ambitious turnaround plan will be the defining challenge of Pölönen's tenure as he works to restore investor confidence and navigate eQ back towards profitable growth.