Christer Gardell takes the tax shock that the governing parties are warning about if there is an S-led government - and proposals like the Left Party's new "billionaires' tax" - with a pinch of salt.
I believe the Social Democrats understand the value of the efficient and dynamic capital market that exists in Sweden, which creates jobs, says Gardell.
Gigantic thinking
He is all the more concerned about what is happening in large EU countries – such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain – which he believes should copy the Swedish capital market to boost innovation and dynamism.
No companies want to invest in those countries anymore.
Europe must streamline its capital, labor, and product markets. It is a mammoth project that requires political courage, a la Margaret Thatcher in Britain in the 1980s.
The Trump administration's trade and stimulus policies in the US - spiced up with what he sees as bubbles on Wall Street - are other clouds of concern.
All these tariffs are a gigantic misconception. What we are struggling with now is that tariffs lead to inflation.
His advice to Swedish small savers is simple.
Invest in Sweden, strong industrial companies. They are fairly reasonably valued and if it goes bust you will have a lot of money left.
If the financial bubbles last another year, I believe the Stockholm Stock Exchange will go up 15 percent in 2026.
Can be more of a "sofa sleeper"
Cryptocurrencies and gold are not highly valued by Gardell.
"It's a real tulip bulb bubble," he says of crypto.
In the tulip bulb bubble in the Netherlands in 1636-1637, futures contracts for future deliveries of tulip bulbs skyrocketed, only to suddenly collapse overnight.
Gardell also sees bubbles among the tech giants on Wall Street. He points out electric car manufacturer Tesla and chip manufacturer Nvidia and warns small savers against global funds, as they largely consist of these stocks.
Privately, Gardell - like all employees at the activist fund Cevian - invests basically all of his savings in Cevian.
Although the newly 65-year-old also has money in traditional endowment insurance in Skandia. And he can also be a "sofa-sitter" - that is, have premium pension money in the Seventh AP Fund's fund portfolio Såfa, for savers who have not actively chosen a fund.
I might have something in Såfa. I don't remember, but I think so.
The value of the activist fund Cevian's portfolio has increased to around SEK 165 billion this year, according to Cevian's CEO and co-founder Christer Gardell.
According to its mandate, Cevian will focus on minority positions that provide board influence in a dozen market-leading European listed companies where there is potential for improvement.
Since Cevian recently sold its ABB shares - after ten years of restructuring and spin-offs in the Swedish-Swiss automation group - the activist fund is currently in the process of buying shares in four European listed companies.
Cevian, created in 2002, will probably also make a few more exit deals in the near future, according to Gardell, to stick to the strategy of focusing on twelve companies when flagging up new ownership.
After the ABB sale, the fund still has large holdings in the listed companies: Autoliv (vehicle safety), CRH (building materials), Ericsson (telecoms), Metso (industrial equipment), Nordea (bank), Pearson (educational materials), Rexel (electrical products), SKF (ball bearings), Smith & Nephew (medical equipment), UBS (finance) and Vesuvius (industrial equipment).
Source: Cevian
