Jarno Jaakkola – Supporting legal and administrative affairs for more than two decades 

A strong foundation for a legal career 

Jarno graduated from the University of Helsinki in 2001 with a Master of Laws degree. After completing his studies, he spent around eighteen months working as a lawyer at a debt collection agency, before moving on to the District Court of Helsinki to undertake a one‑year court traineeship. Upon completing the programme, he qualified as a court-trained lawyer.

Following his court experience, Jarno continued his career at VTT, initially joining as a legal trainee and later progressing to the role of Legal Counsel.

A 20‑Year journey that began by chance

Jarno began his Sustera career in 2006 at the then‑subsidiary Rakystems Credia. It marked the start of a journey that, remarkably, now spans twenty years.

The company was not familiar to him beforehand. “I remember my father saying, after I told him I was joining Raksystems, that the name sounded familiar. A moment later he realised that Raksystems had inspected our house when it was sold around the turn of the millennium.”

A lot has happened since those early days: including as many as six different positions across four companies.

From claims handling to Chief Legal Counsel 

When Jarno first joined Rakystems Credia, his work focused primarily on the company’s home‑sale protection service, which was offered as a contractual safeguard alongside condition inspections.

“Most of my work revolved around handling claims related to the home‑sale protection service. In housing transaction disputes, I prepared assessments on who was responsible for what. I also prepared assessments concerning consumer sales of building materials, evaluating whether an issue was caused by a product defect or an installation error. In addition to these, I handled other complaints connected to our operations.”

The need for the home‑sale protection service came to an end in 2008, when Anticimex acquired Raksystems. The service was transformed into a latent defect insurance product provided through the group’s own insurance company. From that point onwards, Jarno’s role became a combination of two responsibilities: he worked as a lawyer at Raksystems while also overseeing insurance‑related matters.

The sale of insurance products ended in 2015, when the current external home‑sale protection model was introduced. After that, Jarno’s work focused entirely on legal counsel duties.

From 2018 onwards, he also served as Director of Administration, until corporate restructuring and the sale to MB Funds reshaped the organisation. For roughly six years, Jarno held a combined role as both Director of Administration and Chief Legal Counsel.

In 2024, his current position was formalised, and his responsibilities shifted clearly towards serving as Group Ceneral Counsel for the entire organisation.

A workday that never looks the same

Jarno is Sustera’s only in‑house lawyer, and his role is broad.

“Working as a legal counsel requires expertise in areas such as contract and corporate law, liability matters, data protection, financing, as well as HR and employment law. The demands of the job have grown over the years. Matters are becoming increasingly detailed and complex, especially as we expand internationally. At times, some tasks also need to be outsourced,” he explains.

Much of Jarno’s working day is spent with emails, meetings and various documents. He answers a wide range of questions, analyses materials and provides comments on different types of agreements and papers.

In the early stages of his career, Jarno’s work focused heavily on handling claims, but over the years the emphasis has shifted more towards administrative matters. With private equity ownership, issues related to financing agreements have increased significantly. The current group structure also brings with it responsibilities connected to both Finland and Sweden.

“Alongside financing matters, I often deal with issues related to registers, ownership structures and customer data. Contractual and employment matters, as well as new operating models introduced by foreign ownership, also keep the work constantly moving.”

Balancing work with nature, exercise and travel

Jarno lives in Pakila with his wife and their son, who is in the eighth grade. Much of the family’s free time is spent at their cottage in Joutsa, especially during the summer. The place has been familiar to Jarno since childhood, as it originally belonged to his parents.

To stay active, Jarno enjoys running, and in winter he swaps his trainers for cross‑country skis. Downhill skiing is also a shared family hobby.

During holidays, the family prefers travelling or spending time at the cottage rather than staying at home, as a change of scenery helps them switch off from everyday routines. “Especially in the summer, it’s important to get going right away so the holiday truly feels like a holiday and the daily routines are left behind.”

Great people and continuous growth as the secret to a long career 

Jarno’s journey at Sustera has progressed almost naturally. The company’s owners, structure and service offering have changed and expanded several times over the years, keeping the work interesting. “It’s never been dull — I’ve had the chance to grow alongside the company. Even though the core of my role has remained broadly the same, the work itself has constantly evolved, and there has always been something new to learn.”

According to Jarno, the most important reason for staying so long is the people.

“Sustera has always been an easy place to work: help and support are always available, and challenges are tackled together. Even though the personnel has partly changed over the years, the good spirit and hands‑on attitude have remained. We don’t overthink things — we roll up our sleeves and get things done.”

Hannu Lankinen has been Jarno’s supervisor for nearly twenty years. He cannot recall a single argument or conflict between them. According to Hannu, Jarno’s calm nature provides the perfect counterbalance to his own more energetic style.

“Jarno Jaakkola, also known as Laki Luke, is one of the most reliable and meticulous people I know. Despite being a lawyer, he also has a great sense of humour and a sharp understanding of business. Jarno’s expertise and support have been invaluable through both good times and difficult ones. I’d like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to Jarno. It has been a pleasure working with you,” Hannu says.