Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.
Today’s podcast takes us to Oslo, Norway, for a very special conversation with
Christian Sinding, the former CEO of one of the industry’s leading alternative asset managers,
EQT.
Christian’s hometown of Oslo provided an ideal setting to showcase both the Nordic heritage that represents
EQT’s DNA and the global ambitions of the firm (and one of its portfolio companies,
1X) that is looking to fund Europe’s first €1T company.
Christian has been one of the leaders in the alternative asset management industry. He was most recently the CEO of EQT, where he steered the firm on an impressive growth path as a public company and helped scale the firm to almost €300B AUM.
He’s now focused on another ambitious project: the
Scaleup Europe Fund, a fund that EQT is managing and has support from the European Commission to invest in Europe’s most promising technology companies.
With 1X Tech’s NEO humanoid robot joining us for part of the discussion, Christian and I had a fascinating conversation about the past, present, and future of alternative asset management and Europe’s technology ecosystem. Christian and I discussed:
- The evolution of EQT and alternative asset management.
- What Europe needs in order to fund the future.
- How Europe can harmonize its capital markets infrastructure.
- What it will take to create the €1T company.
- What it means for companies to have global ambition.
- The what, why, and how behind EQT’s Scaleup Europe Fund.
- Why EQT’s Scaleup Europe Fund invested in ICEYE and Lovable.
- Why EQT invested in 1X.
- How Christian’s “why not” attitude can take Europe’s technology ecosystem to the next level.
Come for the conversation with Christian, stay until the end to meet NEO.
Bio
Christian Sinding is an Institutional Partner at EQT with nearly 30 years of experience at the firm. He served as CEO and Managing Partner from 2019 to May 2025, during which EQT quadrupled in size, becoming the fourth-largest company listed on the Swedish stock exchange.
As CEO, Christian oversaw EQT’s public listing on Nasdaq Stockholm in 2019 and guided the firm’s development as a publicly listed organization, with a strong focus on governance, transparency and long-term, responsible ownership.
Prior to becoming CEO, Christian served as Head of EQT Equity from 2011, where he played a central role in building EQT’s core investment franchise and expanding the firm’s international footprint. Under his leadership, EQT scaled from a market value of approximately €6 billion at listing to around €40 billion in 2025, further strengthening its position as a global leader in private markets.
Christian chairs the EQT Council and the Global Investment Forum, serves as Chair of the Investment Committee for the Scaleup Europe fund, and serves on the Investment Committees for EQT Equity and EQT Future. He is also a board member of the EQT Foundation, supporting EQT’s long-term societal engagement.
Christian brings deep experience in leadership, governance, public markets and long-term value creation, with a focus on resilience and partnering with founders and management teams to build durable, globally competitive businesses.
Thanks, Christian, for sharing your passion, expertise, and wisdom about private markets and building companies and for such a fascinating conversation.
Show Notes00:00 Meet NEO, the 1X Robot
00:18 The “Why Not” Mindset
00:29 Lovable and The Trillion Euro Ambition
01:37 A Message From Our Sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions
02:35 Welcome Christian Sinding
02:40 Nordic Edge on Innovation
05:38 EQT Origins and DNA
08:01 Inspiring Change Not Control
08:36 Full Potential Planning
10:46 Troika Model Explained
13:42 Winning After the IPO
16:14 Capital Markets Playbook
20:56 Why Venture and Growth
28:44 Europe’s Innovation Gap
28:56 Politics Push Reform
30:47 Building Bigger Markets
31:18 A European Nasdaq Dream
32:28 From Local To Global
33:36 Founder Ambition Shifts
34:40 Lovable Trillion Dollar Vision
35:32 EU Inc And Capital Reforms
36:56 Private Longer Needs Capital
37:52 Scaleup Europe Fund Explained
39:53 What Makes It Different
43:02 Defining Success And Flywheel
46:47 The “Why Not” Mentality
48:58 Some Time With NEO, The 1X Robot
A Word from Our Sponsor, UltimusThis episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by
Ultimus, the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands.
That’s Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their business, helping you navigate complexity during your fund structuring or launch and then supporting you through every stage of growth. Whether you’re already in the market or thinking about entering private wealth, you can trust their team’s deep expertise in retail alternatives to help you reach your goals.
We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.
What is Alt Goes Mainstream: The Latest on Alternative Investments, WealthTech, & Private Markets?
Alt Goes Mainstream podcast is the place to turn to for interviews with some of the brightest and most experienced minds in the world at the intersection private markets and wealth management. AGM dives into investment strategies like private equity (PE), private credit, venture capital (VC), secondaries, GP stakes, infrastructure, real estate, wealth management, and comprehensively covers tools and frameworks for approaching private markets, such as asset allocation, evergreen funds, model portfolios, and more. For anyone looking to invest into private markets (from experienced wealth managers to family offices to the individual investor looking for a more diversified investment portfolio), you’ll hear inside stories from executives and founders at some of the world’s largest financial institutions, alternative asset managers firms, and wealth management firms. More than a personal finance podcast, Alt Goes Mainstream dives deep into trends, investment strategies, firm building lessons, and innovative technologies that are enabling investors to access private markets.