Frank Korsström Chairman of the Board of LeaseGreen

Frank Korsström is the new Chairman of the Board of LeaseGreen sees a historic breakthrough in the company’s playing field. After a winter of crisis, every property owner will have to ask themselves whether their energy costs and emissions management is up to date. This is excellent for LeaseGreen’s business.

“It’s a delicious situation for us. Every day you can read news that supports our business. But we must remain humble and change with our customers’ needs. This requires an exceptional combination of technical and financial expertise, which is LeaseGreen’s trump card,” says Korsström.

Frank Korsström took over as Chairman of the Board of LeaseGreen in January. Earlier in his career, he is known for his long-standing leadership of Accenture in the Nordic region. He currently sits on the boards of Vincit, REJ Design and Hartwall Capital. Hartwall Capital is the principal shareholder of LeaseGreen.

“The unstable economic situation places new demands on what LeaseGreen offers customers. Big investments are not the only tool; there must also be consultative and advisory work, long-term service and a financial commitment to the client’s goals. Frank will help us to renew our offering so that we can even anticipate our customers’ future needs,” says Jonni Ahonen, CEO of LeaseGreen.

According to Ahonen, the red thread of LeaseGreen’s business remains unchanged: reducing the climate emissions of customer-owned properties in an economically sustainable way. The energy crisis has underlined this basic mission.

“Property owners have increasing incentives for energy optimisation. The cost of energy is, of course, the number one driver. Moreover, the green premium is here to stay, meaning that energy improvements tangibly increase property values – or protect them from depreciation. There are plenty of green earmarked loan providers, and it is already clearly cheaper than a regular loan,” says Ahonen.

Ahonen brings greetings from the MIPIM conference in Cannes, the number one event in Europe for the real estate sector. Discussions there show that the interest rate advantage of green finance has increased 15-fold in the past year: green loans are 0.75 percentage points cheaper than conventional loans this year, compared to only 0.05 percentage points in 2022.

“You still can’t put everything into Excel. The choices of younger generations may be a big trend that we do not yet fully understand. It may soon be difficult to find tenants for unecological properties. This is already evident in the labour market, where job seekers are increasingly asking about the values of the employer,” says Frank Korsström.

Changes in interest rates and energy prices are question marks. There is a lot of uncertainty in the sector. But now is the right time to invest in energy improvements, the LeaseGreen management duo summarise. It is worth bearing in mind that changes take time.

“It is not credible to promise to transform the portfolio to carbon neutrality in a few years, but no action is taken. However, on average it takes two years from the investment decision before a property owner can report reduced emissions. Words and targets are not enough, we need property-specific decisions and actions,” says Jonni Ahonen.

In the long term, nothing has changed. No one has cancelled the climate crisis. Energy renovations are profitable, even if interest rates are higher. In addition, legislation is tightening around brownfield properties.

“In the Netherlands, for example, it has been illegal to rent office buildings in the lowest energy classes since the beginning of this year. My guess is that in a year or two this will also be the case in Finland,” Ahonen says.

Further information

Chairman of the Board Frank Korsström, LeaseGreen
+358 400 703 990

Jonni Ahonen, Managing Director, LeaseGreen
+358 50 301 3589