Kasim Kutay
Kasim Kutay is a British fund manager who is the CEO of Danish Novo Holdings A/S, an investment fund that manages investments and assets for the Novo Nordisk Foundation. He holds British citizenship and resides in Denmark.
Kutay was an investment banker, focusing on the healthcare sector. He assumed the role of CEO at Novo Holdings A/S in September 2016, following the departure of Eivind Kolding. Kutay joined Novo Holdings A/S after more than two decades working in investment banking.
In 2025, Kasim Kutay received PwC Denmark's Business Executive of the Year award 2025. The distinction is presented annually to executives in Danish business who have demonstrated notable leadership, strategic influence, and impact on society.
Early life and education
Kasim Kutay is a citizen of the United Kingdom. He was born in Alexandria, Egypt on 13 May 1965 to a Turkish father and Syrian mother.The family moved to Lebanon until the Lebanese Civil War broke out in 1975 where the family relocated to London, United Kingdom.
Kutay went to the American Community School in London. He studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he earned a BSc in Economics and an MSc in Politics of the World Economy.
Career
Kutay began his career as a graduate trainee at Morgan Stanley in 1989, and spent 18 years at there advising mainly healthcare companies.He rose to chairman of its European healthcare group. Kutay then worked at a US investment firm, Sun Group, prior to joining Moelis & Company in 2009.
He worked at Moelis for seven years, as co-head of Europe and member of its management committee.
Novo Holdings A/S
Kutay was appointed CEO of Novo Holdings A/S in June 2016, succeeding Eivind Kolding.Kutay was very familiar to Novo before assuming the role of CEO, having previously advised the company over many years on both disposals and acquisitions. He has also advised several other Danish healthcare companies including William Demant and Lundbeck.
Novo Holdings A/S manages approximately DKK 710 billion worth of assets.
Philanthropy and public positions
Kutay has written on and advocated for the need for greater investment and policy changes to tackle the pandemic of antimicrobial resistance.In 2018, Novo Holdings A/S launched REPAIR, a $165 million fund solely dedicated to investing in companies researching new antibiotics.
Kutay has written on the need for capital markets to evolve to be more conducive to companies seeking to pursue a “stakeholder” model by restraining certain types of hostile mergers and acquisitions.
Kutay is a member of the board of directors at Novozymes, Novo Nordisk A/S, Evotec SE and a former board member of Convatec up until July 2018.
Kutay is also a charity board member of the Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust.