A Centre of Excellence in Applied Finance

Rann is an independent advisory firm with a team of experienced advisors

Our quantitative capabilities, combined with an extensive experience from capital markets transactions, creates value for our clients

Examples, illustrating the kind of companies and entities we have worked with

Employees: 5
Clients: >50
Equity advisor: >NOK 10 bn
Debt advisor: >NOK 15 bn

Our business areas

Rann offers a broad spectrum of services within applied finance. With extensive experience from different senior roles and positions, our advisors are experts in being financial generalists.

Corporate financial advice

Rann is an advisor and discussion partner to non-financial enterprises in relation to complex and challenging financial questions. We sit on the same side of the table as our clients, advising on capital pricing, credit analysis/rating, debt advisory, risk modelling, valuations, transfer pricing, and strategy discussions. We have extensive experience with advising in connection with mergers & acquisitions. Discretion is a given and we provide an analytical and market consistent approach where this is possible.

Financial litigation advisory

As an independent advisor, Rann can with integrity offer various expert opinions. Financial disputes, where Rann has provided advice, have typically been related to capital markets issues, in particular enterprise valuation, interest rate and/or financial risk considerations, as well as tax related questions regarding intercompany financial transactions. Examples of clients and opponents in cases we have been involved in, include BP, DNB Asset Management, Eksportfinans ASA, ExxonMobil, Citigroup, Hafslund ASA, IF P&C Insurance, Norske Skog ASA, the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, Royal Dutch Shell and many more. Members of our team have experience as expert witnesses and lay judges in legal disputes.

Strategic advice on asset allocation and risk management

Rann develops and provides models for advice on asset allocation and risk management for high-net-worth individuals, family offices and financial institutions. Quantitative and research-based optimization of investment portfolios is an important part of our service and product offering. The aim is to help our clients achieve the best possible risk adjusted return, given agreed risk-limitations, through the design of a comprehensive investment strategy. We also advise on appropriate fund selection, based on the agreed investment strategy.

Regulatory capital for financial institutions

Rann supports financial institutions in building models for calculation of required regulatory capital. We also advise institutions on capital allocation modelling. Our approach is to use quantitative and research-based methodologies, combined with a comprehensive knowledge of the regulatory framework. Two of the team members are actuaries.

Employees - Senior expertise at every level

All our employees have extensive experience from various roles in the financial market and academia

Management

Bjørn Bakken

CEO

bjorn.bakken@rann.no

+47 938 36 000

Bjørn has experience from Handelsbanken Norge and Arctic Securities. Among other fields he has worked with questions in relation to risk management, valuations, capital structure and general financial advisory, as well as experience in structuring of financial products. Co-founder of Rann Rådgivning in 2013, together with Halvor Hoddevik. Bjørn has an experience as an expert witness, and expert co-judge, in financial legal disputes. He holds a Master’s degree in Modelling and Data Analysis from University of Oslo (UiO) specialising in finance, insurance and risk. He also holds a degree in Business Administration from BI, Oslo. From 1997 to 2001 he was a professional soccer player. He has actuarial proficiency.

Halvor Hoddevik

Executive Chairman

halvor.hoddevik@rann.no

+47 45 202 707

Halvor worked for J.P.Morgan in the period 1998-2005. He became Deputy Head of a global research group servicing J.P.Morgan’s largest clients. Areas of expertise were risk advisory, valuations and general financial advisory. Life- and pensions schemes, large corporates and governments/central banks were among the clients. Headed up Risk Advisory in Danske Bank Markets from 2005-2007. In 2007 Halvor participated in founding Arctic Securities, where he as a partner headed up a similar risk advisory team. In 2011 he established his own advisory service, as well as his own private investment company. He holds a Master’s degree (“sivilingeniør”) in Industrial Economics and Technology Management from NTNU, Trondheim. As a part of his engineering degree, he completed coursework for an MSc in Finance at Imperial College, London.

Advisors

Stig Korsnes

stig.korsnes@rann.no

+47 905 97 165

Stig, who joined Rann in May 2020, brings extensive experience from his tenure at Nordic Bond Pricing, the Norwegian Bank Insurance Fund, NBIM, and DNB. He has a strong background in financial advisory and risk modeling within the financial sector. At Rann, Stig is addressing challenges related to regulatory capital requirements and investment risk for various financial instruments. As one of the founding members of Nordic Bond Pricing, he played a pivotal role in the development of product solutions in the Norwegian bond market. Notably, he was responsible for valuing the entire Norwegian bond market as part of his role.Stig holds a Master's degree in Modeling and Data Analytics from the Mathematical Institute at UiO, complemented by actuarial expertise and courses from the AFA program.

Pål Th. Mitlid

Special Advisor

pal.mitlid@rann.no

+47 913 94 869

Pål joined Rann in April 2023. He started his career in the Treasury Department of Esso Norway Inc. After that he worked 20 years for Christiania Bank/Nordea in different managerial positions, including six years in the New York Branch, including two years as Branch Manager. He mainly worked with clients within the Energy segment, but has also been responsible for clients within Industry, Real Estate, Family Offices and Trade. In 2005 he took over the responsibility for the Large Corporates area in Danske Bank Norway, and from 2015 he was Senior Banker for a select group of the bank’s largest clients until he left the bank in December 2022. Pål holds a BSc from the University of Lund, Sweden and he holds a Master’s degree from the American School of International Management, Phoenix, AZ.

Morten Risstad

morten.risstad@rann.no

+47 971 66 263

Morten joined the Rann team in 2023. He has previously worked for Arthur Andersen, Telenor, Hydro, Danske Markets and SpareBank1 Markets. 25 years of practical experience from the industrial and financial sector leads Morten to have a deep knowledge of financing, risk monitoring, capital allocation, reporting, corporate governance and business management. He also holds a research- and teaching position at the Institute for Industrial Economy and Technological leadership at NTNU, primarily focusing on applied finance and machine learning. Morten holds a MSc in Finance, has a PhD in financial economy and he is a certified finance analyst (AFA).

Get in touch

Our offices

Oslo
Bygdøy Allé 4
0257 Oslo, Norge
PB 3107 Elisenberg, 0207 Oslo
Trondheim
Dyre Halses gate 18
7042 Trondheim, Norge