Carina Åkerström, the veteran chief executive officer of Svenska Handelsbanken, has announced plans to retire upon her 62nd birthday in October 2024.

Åkerström, who became Handelsbanken’s first ever female chief exec in 2019, had previously announced plans to retire at 65. However the board said that it had granted her wish for a new contractual age of retirement of 62.

The process of appointing her successor will now be initiated.

The bank, the third largest in Sweden by market value, said that the change to Åkerström’s retirement plan entails no increased costs for the Bank, with the chief exec having a defined-contribution pension plan corresponding to 35 per cent of her salary. The premium payments will cease at the time her employment ends.

Commenting on the announcement Åkerström said: “I have worked my whole adult life – over 35 years – at Handelsbanken, the past 25 of them in managerial, high-level positions. It has been incredibly interesting and enjoyable, but at times also quite demanding. So although I am still really happy in my present role, I feel that it’s time to start planning and preparing for a time after Handelsbanken.”

Åkerström earlier this year was appointed to the board of forestry company Holmen, a role she said she will focus on more upon her retirement. She added: "My present role as chief executive officer is far too time-consuming for other assignments at this level. So hopefully the proposals for similar assignments that I am forced to say no to at present, will continue to come in the future."

Chairman of the board of Handelsbanken, Pär Boman, said: “While feeling a sense of regret that there is now a more concrete, final date, I think she is certainly worth this after all her hard work at the bank.

“Carina Åkerström has always done a fantastic job for the bank and still is. She has always delivered on exactly what she said she would when she became chief executive officer: higher cost-efficiency, developing what the Bank is good at and phasing out what the bank shouldn’t be doing. At the same time, under her leadership, Handelsbanken has reported record results – quarter after quarter.”

Handelsbanken is currently undergoing a major reorganisation centred on its core markets of Sweden, Norway and the UK, and has sold large parts of its businesses in Denmark and Finland. The bank remains one of the best capitalised in Europe, but it has struggled to keep costs down – a trend which is impacting a significant part of the financial sector in 2023.

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