Our social finance is designed to support investments that produce widespread social benefits. At year-end 2025, we had granted financing to 174 social projects, with the outstanding amount of social finance totalling EUR 2.8 billion.
In 2025, we took this ambition one step further by establishing the Happiness Grant, an annual initiative celebrating the project that most powerfully advances community happiness in Finland. Finland has held the top position in the World Happiness Report every year since 2018 – a distinction that underscores the importance of continuing to invest in shared wellbeing. Thus, the Happiness Grant’s purpose is twofold: to highlight inspiring local initiatives but also to encourage broader dialogue about what truly drives happiness in our society.
In 2025, we also published a new edition of our Social Bond Framework to harmonise our sustainable finance frameworks and clarify the eligibility criteria. Under the new framework, project assessments are now carried out by our in-house specialists rather than external experts. Sustainability is embedded in our customer interaction and social finance themes have further broadened and deepened our dialogue.
The projects we finance include hospitals and healthcare centres, culture and sports facilities and housing solutions for the most vulnerable groups. Affordable housing forms the backbone of our social finance portfolio in terms of project numbers, reflecting Finland’s strong national commitment to social housing. Finland is considered a European role model in promoting social housing and ensuring access to reasonably priced homes, even in growth centres.
Sustainable finance has long been at the core of our strategy. Last year, we further strengthened this commitment by revising our sustainability agenda and setting new, more ambitious targets. Our goal is that by 2035, at least half of all long-term customer financing will be sustainable, channelled through social finance, green finance or sustainability-linked loans.
Our employees, owners, Board of Directors and customers share a common ambition: to move decisively towards greater sustainability. Because our greatest social impact stems from customer financing, fostering a sustainable welfare society lies at the heart of our strategy and sustainability agenda.
At a time of deepening geopolitical divisions, we believe the need to advance wellbeing, social cohesion, equality and sustainability has never been greater.
Joakim Holmström
Executive Vice President Capital Markets and Sustainability
This viewpoint was published first in MuniFin’s Social Impact Report in April 2026, and is published here with minor edits.