Episode #5
Norway's Berkshire
Sverre Bjerkeli
Sverre Bjerkeli is co-founder and CEO of Protector Forsikring, an Oslo-based multinational insurance company. After a successful career managing Norway’s largest insurer, Sverre and his partner Jostein set out to build Protector in 2004. Since then, Protector stock, assuming reinvestment of dividends, has appreciated by a staggering 60x or a 27% annually. Sverre believes the group’s brightest days are ahead, as Protector continues to dominate the Nordics, expand in the U.K., and eventually conquer niche Continental European markets.
In this Episode
In this in-depth conversation, Sverre discusses how he built Protector over the last 16 years into a highly efficient, niche-dominating insurer and why he believes the group will conquer Continental European markets over the coming years. Growing up with a brother just two-years older, he learned early in life to be ‘The Challenger’ and to never accept the status quo. He talks about why Jim Collins’ Good to Great is required reading for every employee and how Protector consistently buys when others are selling. By building a young, highly motivated and disciplined team, united by a performance driven culture, Sverre has delivered exceptional returns to shareholders and he believes the group is just getting started.