Carnegie

"But Harald Mix says that Altor has reduced the risk in Carnegie. He points out that Carnegie has a large operation with fairly low risk; they manage just over 200 billion SEK for clients in their funds. On that money, fees of one to two percent per year are collected. “Wealth management” is what this growing industry of megafunds is called, which is to invest the public’s and companies’ pensions and savings. That is where Mix sees opportunities. — The savings market is growing by six to eight percent per year. But we know that the business is very cyclical. We may keep Carnegie for five or ten years; we’ll see what is required. Revenues fluctuate because stock prices do; in a downturn, revenues from the funds also fall because there is less capital to charge fees on. The acquisition of Carnegie/HQ is atypical for the industry; in general, private equity companies do not buy financial companies. They do not fit at all into the model that prescribes stable income. Many shake their heads at the purchase; others argue that Altor has performed a service to society—they saved a large company that would otherwise have gone under or been broken up."

"In the hospital, he mostly spent his time reading and voraciously went through numerous books, including business books, history books, success stories of Carnegie, Rockefeller, Konosuke Matsushita, and Soichiro Honda. Among these, “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu and “Lanchester’s Laws” had the strongest influence."