ABGSC and ABGSC Foundation – Women in Finance sponsor “Female Business Forum” at BI

An update on the ongoing partnership between ABGSC and ABGSC Foundation – Women in Finance and BI Norwegian Business School.

From 23 – 24 March 2022 the Female Business Forum was held at Åpen Scene in Oslo. The event, which was arranged by students at the BI Norwegian Business School, has been held every year since 2014. The main purpose of the event is to inspire and motivate women in business and to encourage them to pursue less obvious career paths. In order to attend the event, ambitious students had to apply and write a motivation letter. The event received over a hundred applications, of which 75 of the applicants were granted a place.
ABG Sundal Collier (“ABGSC”) and ABG Sundal Collier Foundation – Women in Finance (the “Foundation”) were together the main sponsors of the event. Representatives from both ABGSC and the Foundation held a presentation on “Why women should choose a career within the finance industry”. Knut Brundtland, ABGSC Chairman and Foundation Board member, talked about what it is like to work for an investment bank like ABGSC. Marianne Daae, a representative from the Foundation, talked about the finance industry more broadly and described the many career opportunities within it. Several other interesting speakers also attended the event, including Märtha Louise, investor and business leader Javad Mushtaq and nutrition influencer and former blogger Emilie Nereng. The Female Business Forum concluded with a banquet, which was attended by two representatives from ABGSC’s Equity Research team (Benedicte Aass and Ailin Andersen).
“We greatly appreciate the contributions of ABGSC and the ABGSC Foundation – Women in Finance, both as the event’s main financial sponsors and for your professional support. Without your support, it would not have been possible to carry out the event in this great format”, says Hedda Lønli Bølset, Business Relations Manager at Female Business Forum.
According to Bølset, the financial support from the Foundation and ABGSC has helped FBF to reach female students across the various disciplines and various levels-of-study at BI Norwegian Business School’s Oslo campus.

Feedback from the participants on this year’s event:
There were many ways in which the Foundation’s and ABGSC’s contributions proved to be impactful to the students who participated in the event. The organisers report that they saw an increased interest in their student organisation immediately after the event, as well as in the weeks that followed. They also received very positive feedback about ABGSC and the ABGSC Foundation – Women in Finance.
Several participants reported that the Foundation’s s lecture drew much interest and that they were  offered sound advice on why women should dare to pursue a career in finance. A couple of students even told to the event organisers that they decided to pursue a career in finance after attending the event.
“They told us that although they initially thought a career in finance seemed daunting, the lecture illustrated that there are many good opportunities and good workplaces available, which could be good fits for them”, says Bølset.
The Foundation’s Marianne Daae says that: “We are pleased to have contributed to the Female Business Forum, since it aligns with our goal of encouraging more women to consider a career in finance. We are thrilled to hear that this year’s event achieved such a fantastic result.”