Morgan Stanley is the frontrunner for the €2.8bn ($3.16bn) mandate to lead the initial public offering of If, the Nordic insurance group, in Finland's first IPO since March 2002.

If is part-owned by Sampo, the Finnish financial services group, and was created by the sale of Sampo's non-life insurance business in 2001. Sampo has not yet appointed any banks to manage the deal, planned for early next year.