Board of Directors
An experienced and balanced board consisting of four women and four men with diverse backgrounds.
The fund's board is made up of eight professionals. Four are nominated by the labor union VR, three by the Confederation of Icelandic Employers and one by the Icelandic Federation of Trade. Each of the above member organizations of the fund nominates one alternate board member. VR nominates board members for four years at a time, while the term of office for board members nominated by Icelandic Federation of Trade and the Icelandic Federation of Trade is two years. Further information can be found in the fund's articles of association.
The board is responsible for the fund's activities in accordance with the provisions of the law and the fund's articles of association. Among the boards topics of discussion are the articles of association development, the fund´s investment and shareholder policies, budgets, member loan regulations and public relations.
Board of directors
Stefán Sveinbjörnsson
Chairman of the board
Stefán is nominated by the union VR and has been a board member since August 2019. Stefán is the managing director of VR, he has been a member of the fund's audit committee since 2014 excluding the years 2019-2021. Stefán has an academic background as well as a background in the financial sector as he was the operations director of the University of Bifröst and was previously the director of the corporate department of the Mýrasýslu Savings Bank.
Stefán has a master's degree in law from the University of Reykjavík, a BSc in business law, a BSc in business administration, a diploma in business administration, a degree in stockbroking and a journeyman's degree in electrical engineering.
Jón Ólafur Halldórsson
vice chairman of the board
Jón Ólafur has been a board member since June 2020 and is nominated by the Confederation of Icelandic Employers. He has extensive experience in the business world providing consulting services as well as board work. He is the chairman of the board of the Association of Trade and Services and is also a member of the board and executive committee of the Association of Business, as well as other board positions. Jón Ólafur worked for the Iceland Oil limited for 27 years which of he held the position as the company´s CEO for 7 years.
Jón Ólafur has a B.Sc. in mechanical engineering from KTH Copenhagen, an MBA with a focus on corporate finance and an MS in management and strategy in business administration from the University of Iceland and an AMP diploma from IESE in Barcelona.
Árni Stefánsson
board member
Árni is nominated by the Confederation of Icelandic Employers and took a seat on the board in 2017. He is the CEO of Húsasmiðjan a hardware and home improvement chain. Árni has held several board seats and has an extensive experience in the business world.
Árni has a degree in business and an MBA degree with a focus on international management, as well as having completed a variety of additional training and courses.
Bjarni Þór Sigurðsson
board member
Bjarni Þór is nominated by the labour union VR and took a seat on the board in 2019. Bjarni works at ASÍ the confederation of trade unions as an housing market analyst. He has served on ASÍ's central board and on VR's board and was vice-chairman of the association from 2013 to 2017.
Bjarni Þór has completed studies in filmmaking from the CLCF film school in Paris and holds a BA in business administration from the University of Iceland.
Guðmunda Ólafsdóttir
board member
Guðmunda was appointed by VR and took her seat as a main representative in March 2024. She works as the executive director of the Akranes Sports Association and has extensive experience in business and service operations in Iceland and Norway, as well as in accounting and collections.
Guðmunda has completed an MBA degree from the University of Iceland.
Guðrún Ragna Garðarsdóttir
board member
Guðrún is nominated by the Icelandic Federation of Trade (FA) and took a seat in the board in March 2022. She is the CEO of Atlantsolía, an oil company which she has led since 2008 and held a previous position as the company´s financial manager.
Guðrún has been on the board of FA since 2019 and has been the chairman of the federation since 2021. She has a cand. oecon in business from University of Iceland, a master's degree from EADA, Barcelona in International Finance and an MBA from University of Iceland.
Helga Ingólfsdóttir
board member
Helga is nominated by the labour union VR and took a seat on the board in August 2019. Her background in within Municipal Affairs as an elected representative, accounting and project management. She has managed her own company and worked as a managing director for an international company. Helga is a board member of VR and sits on the board of The Federation of trade unions on behalf of the National Association of Commerce.
Helga is an accredited bookkeeper and has completed a management and business degree from the continuing education division of the University of Iceland.
Sigrún Helgadóttir
board member
Sigrún is nominated by the Confederation of Icelandic Employers and took a seat on the board in September 2021. She is the Plant Manager of Norðurál a pure almunium producer at Grundartangi. Sigrún has extensive management experience in the financial sector with a background in at Kaupþing bank, the Oslo Stock Exchange and Iceland Stock Exchange, now Nasdaq Iceland.
Sigrún has a cand. oecon degree in business administration from the University of Iceland and an MBA degree from the Norwegian School of Management (BI).