Beleggers Belangen – Tenth edition of annual broker survey

Editor Jeff Thijssen of Beleggers Belangen sounded the gong. Thijssen has conducted the tenth edition of the broker survey by Beleggers Belangen. This is the study of costs, trading opportunities, service and ease of use of banks and brokers operating in the Netherlands. The study was published on the 27^th of November.

The broker survey, carried out annually by Beleggers Belangen, is the largest independent broker survey in the Netherlands. Both banks and brokers and private investors attach great value to it. In the survey, Beleggers Belangen examined the services of nine banks and brokers.

Beleggers Belangen is a weekly magazine and a website with current information for private investors.  Beleggers Belangen offers specific, well-founded and independent investment advice from its own investment experts. Both in print and online, Beleggers Belangen provides advice and tips on shares, investment funds, options, ETF’s, bonds, commodities and currencies. Beleggers Belangen also manages successful model portfolios for various strategies.

For more information: www.beleggersbelangen.nl

Young captain Award 2019 – Winner: Nicoline van Leersum

Nicoline van Leersum, winner of the Young Captain Award 2019, opens trading on the Amsterdam stock exchange by sounding the gong.

Nicoline van Leersum was in the final with two other management talents from the Dutch business community:

1. Eric Jones, ABN AMRO, Managing Director Skillpool Advice

2. Dustin Woodward, Friesland Campina, Managing Director Africa

About the Young Captain Award

The Young Captain Award is an initiative of the Young Captain Netherlands Foundation. With the awarding, the upcoming generation of decision makers will be brought under the public’s attention.

In cooperation with the Nyenrode Business University, the Young Captain Foundation organizes the Young Bilderberg Conference, a unique think tank of young business leaders.

The foundation also organizes the two-day Young Captains program in collaboration with the Award partners. Candidates are prepared for the next steps in their careers.

The award has been awarded since 2005 to the most talented young business leader who showed daring, decisiveness and originality in an early phase of their career, who thinks internationally and who sees leadership as a social, personal and economic responsibility.

For more information: www.youngcaptainaward.nl

Salvation Army – Start national collection week 2019

By striking the gong, commissioner Hannelise Tvedt, Territorial Commander of The Salvation Army in The Netherlands, opens trading at the stock exchange in Amsterdam. This marks the start of the national collection week of The Salvation Army.

From 25 till 30 November, volunteers of The Salvation Army will go door to door with their collection boxes. The proceeds of this annual collection go to local activities to combat social exclusion and loneliness. More and more people stand alone these days and a lot of them cannot manage on their own. The Salvation Army wants to offer an open door and inclusive fellowship to these people, including providing meal projects, debt counselling, second hand clothing shops and a soup bus.

The Salvation Army does not receive any public subsidies for these activities, they are fully funded by private donations. That is why The Salvation Army organizes a national collection week each year.

The Salvation Army is a Christian movement that offers help to anyone – without exceptions.

For more information: www.legerdesheils.nl

L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women In Science – For Women in Science 2019 Awards

The For Women in Science 2019 Award winners Sandra Khor Manickam (Erasmus University Rotterdam) and Lisa Becking (Wageningen University) received a prestigious fellowship during the 8th edition of the event on 21 November 2019. On this occasion, For Women in Science will open trading at Beursplein 5.

For Women in Science is an initiative from L’Oréal, Unesco, the Dutch Network of Women Professors (LNVH), the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS) and the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW) to support women in science.          

Each year, the Dutch For Women in Science Fellowship Program hands-out two fellowships of up to €25,000 to women scientists.         

In addition, this year the Rising Talent Award was presented for the first time to young women scientists at the start of their career. This Rising Talent prize of €3,500 was handed-out to Jorinde van de Vis, promising researcher at Nikhef/DESY.

The participation of women in scientific research is essential for economic, social and cultural development. Nowadays, women achieve the highest academic level; nevertheless, they are still under-represented. Only 29% of researchers worldwide is female, and in the Netherlands just 21% of university professors is female.

For more information:  www.unesco.nl/publicatie/l-or-al-unesco-for-women-in-science-programma/1-het-l-or-al-unesco-for-women-in-science-programma

Dutch Circular Leadership Conference sounds gong at Exchange Drumming 2019

Assisted by 60 Amsterdam school children, today’s gong at Euronext Amsterdam is sounded by Mildred Hofkes, initiator of the Dutch Circular Leadership Conference, and Abel Koentjes, Future Circular Leader. The Dutch Circular Leadership Conference will take place on 28 November. One hundred Dutch managers, captains of industry and future leaders gather to shape the principles of circular management and circular leadership.

About the Dutch Circular Leadership Conference

Circular leadership is the leadership of the future. During the Dutch Circular Leadership Conference on 28 November in Circl Amsterdam current and future leaders in business, healthcare, education, financial markets, energy, banking, culture and NGO’s will work on an ‘action plan Netherlands as a frontrunner in circular leadership’. Every manager contributes, on behalf of their organization, to the Dutch Circular Leadership position paper, outlining the circular leadership agenda of the Netherlands. This position paper will be presented to the Dutch Government before the end of the year and will serve as inspiration during national and international meetings on leadership.

About Exchange Drumming

The annual Exchange Drumming (“Beurstrommelen”) is a centuries’ old tradition at the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. We commemorate the brave action of an Amsterdam orphan boy, who during the Eighty Years’ War foiled an attempt by the Spanish to blow up the Exchange Building. As a thank you gesture, orphans were allowed to bang their drums in the building for a day.

This tradition is continued by Amsterdam schoolchildren to this day.

More information:

Dutch Circulair Leadership Conference: https://nieuwbestuur.nl/diensten/dutch-davos-congres/

Exchange Drumming: https://www.beursgeschiedenis.nl/moment/beurstrommelen/

Amsterdam Light Festival – 8th Edition

Managing director Frédérique ter Brugge sounds the gong to kick-off the education project of Amsterdam Light Festival #8.

Education

With various educational projects Amsterdam Light Festival offers students a playful introduction to light art and offers a new generation of artists a platform. For example, 850 pupils from 17 primary schools together with the creative collective 72andSunny and Juf op Straat are creating a mysterious, daily changing work of art with dozens of animal eyes on the Entrepotdok side of ARTIS. Emerging talents get special attention every year in the exhibition as well: Amsterdam Light Festival collaborates with Amsterdam Smart City, the Breitner Academy and the Amsterdam School of the Arts.

About Amsterdam Light Festival

Each year, co-created light artworks by (inter)national artists illuminate the city centre of Amsterdam during the Amsterdam Light Festival. The eighth edition of the festival will take place from 28 November 2019 to 19 January 2020 and will cover an exhibition and an extensive program. During 53 days, the twenty light artworks can be admired daily

from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. in the historic city centre. All the works will be illuminated simultaneously throughout the festival period. It's one exhibition that visitors can experience by boat, by bike and by foot along several routes. For this edition, national and international artists have been challenged to work with the theme DISRUPT!

More information: www.amsterdamlightfestival.com

Martine Hafkamp – Beste Beleggingsexpert 2019

Martine Hafkamp, Fintessa’s general manager, sounds the gong for winning the cashcow award as the best investment expert.

Earlier this year, Fintessa was voted the best asset manager for the eight time, by the readers of cash and cashcow. In September, Martine Hafkamp won this award as the best investment expert. “It is a big compliment and huge token of appreciation for our investment policy and the personal way we manage our clients’ assets.

Over the past 11 years, Fintessa has grown into one of the larger indepent asset managers  in the Netherlands. Fintessa mainly works for individuals, entrepreneurs, foundations and institutions. We offer customized asset management and do not have our own products. Therefore, we can always make independent choices for our  clients.”

For more information: www.fintessa.nl

NN Investment Partners – Beste aanbieder impactbeleggen 2019

Ivo Luiten is Senior Portfolio Manager in the Sustainable & Impact Investing team at NN Investment Partners. Together with Huub van der Riet, he is responsible for the success of the NN Global Equity Impact Opportunities fund. Ivo will open the stock market as a symbolic representation of NN IP’s dedication to responsible investing. NN IP recently received an award naming the firm as the best provider in impact investing.

At NN IP they see responsible investing as the best way to enhance risk-adjusted returns and to contribute to society as a whole. They believe that companies with sustainable business practices and high standards of corporate governance will become the success stories of the future. Their clear vision on how to invest responsibly forms the basis for the broad range of strategies they offer.

ESG is embedded into the investment process for the majority of our strategies. They also offer two specific product ranges with an even stronger focus on ESG. Their sustainable strategies incorporate a clear tilt towards sustainability opportunities, while their impact products target companies that make a clear positive contribution to the UN SDGs.

As the stand-alone asset manager of NN Group, they manage €287 billion in assets for our clients. Through active management and sustainable solutions, we create value for our stakeholders and for society as a whole.

MKB Amsterdam - Van Keulen

Day of the Entrepreneur for sustainable distribution

René van Griensven, director of distribution company Van Keulen in Amsterdam Noord will open the trading with the gong Friday morning 15th of November. Van Keulen redistributes different goods over several trucks, in order to reduce truck freight in the city. Furthermore goods are loaded on ships, that will sail into the city center. The gong of this partner from MKB-Amsterdam will be executed in the context of the Day of the Entrepreneur.

Bart Drenth, chairman MKB-Amsterdam: ‘’This week MKB-Amsterdam wants to draw extra attention for sustainable and efficient city distribution. Van Keulen is a very good example and has won the MKB-Sustainable Price in 2012.  Quite new is their transportation over water, this will be even more important in the future”.

Besides Van Keulen there are also other companies present that deal with new forms of city distribution and creating pick-up points for packages at different locations in the city. Drenth: ‘MKB-Amsterdam thinks that it’s outdated that everyone delivers their packages at home. It is bad for the environment and results in too much traffic in the city. Therefor pick-up points can play an important role.

BlackRock celebrates launch of Europe’s first ESG High Yield bond UCITS ETFs

Stephen Cohen, Head of iShares EMEA, of BlackRock, opened the trading day at the Amsterdam Stock Exchange by ringing the opening bell.

With the opening of the stock exchange on Thursday 14 November, BlackRock celebrates the launch of Europe’s first ESG High Yield bond UCITS ETFs in collaboration with Dutch insurer a.s.r.

BlackRock has launched the iShares € High Yield Corp Bond ESG UCITS ETF and the iShares $ High Yield Corp Bond ESG UCITS ETF (TICKERS: DHYE NA, EHYA NA), to offer investors a larger toolbox to reflect their sustainability objectives, as a growing number of bond investors seek to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations into their investments.

The two new funds will enable investors to achieve a more sustainable high yield exposure through debt issued by companies with the strongest commitment to ESG, while also screening out companies involved in controversial business activities. The ETFs have been seeded by Dutch insurer a.s.r.



For additional information on BlackRock, please visit www.blackrock.com     

Oranje Handelsmissiefonds – Winners Oranje Handelsmissiefonds 2019

The winners of the Oranje Handelsmissiefonds (Orange Trade Mission Fund) open the Amsterdam exchange by sounding the gong.



The Oranje Handelsmissiefonds was established in 2013 by ING, KLM, evofenedex, MKB-Nederland and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. Ten companies win a year of guidance and support from the Oranje Handelsmissiefonds partners in realizing their international ambitions.

For more information: https://www.oranjehandelsmissiefonds.nl/english/

Sustainalize - MVO Manager of the Year 2019

Arnoud van Vliet (Zeeman) has been elected as ‘CSR Manager of the Year 2019’ and opened the trading day with the gong.

The CSR Manager of the Year election has been organized since 2012. The organizer is CSR consultancy Sustainalize, Moonen Packaging and Office Depot Benelux are the partners. The purpose of the election is to recognize the extra effort and results inspired CSR managers. Arnoud van Vliet was elected CSR Manager of the Year 2019 at the Dutch National Sustainability Congress on November 7th. A jury had previously nominated three people for this title. Besides Arnoud, Sander Dekker (Van Oord) and Jolanda Soons (Lamb Weston/Meijer were nominated.

For more information: www.mvomanagervanhetjaar.nl

Flightgift & Hotelgift – Winner Technology Fast 50

Jorik Schroder, together with Loes Daniels co-founder of Flightgift & Hotelgift, opens the stock trade today by sounding the gong.

A delegation of Flightgift & Hotelgift visited the stock exchange today on the occasion of winning the Technology Fast 50 2019, the list of the fastest growing technology companies in The Netherlands. With a revenue growth of 7238% over the last four years (2015 – 2018) the company is at the top of this list.

Flightgift is the first and only gift card for flights from all major airlines worldwide. Hotelgift is a gift card for over 200.000 hotels worldwide. Both gift cards are sold and redeemed through our own platforms flightgift.com and hotelgift.com. The websites are currently live in 5 languages, 15 currencies and we sell in 50 countries.

This year marks the 20th edition of the Technology Fast 50, where Deloitte praises the 50 fastest growing tech companies in The Netherlands, based on revenue growth over the past 4 years (2015 – 2018). Furthermore 2 companies have been awarded in the Rising Star category, the category for emerging innovative companies younger than 4 years. Otrium won the title Rising Star 2019, while Solar Monkey was announced to be the Most Disruptive Innovator 2019.

Deloitte organizes the Technology Fast 50 together with program partners ABN AMRO, Euronext, Fortino Capital Partners, Kennedy van der Laan and Oracle NetSuite.

For more information: www.fast50.nl

Alzheimer Nederland – Campagne Stop Dementia

Arno van Gemert sounds the gong. By doing this, executive director Gerjoke Wilmink and teamlead of the national door-to-door collection Arno van Gemert of Alzheimer Nederland ask attention for dementia.

Sooner or later we all have to deal with this brain disease in one way or another. Currently about 280,000 people in the Netherlands have dementia. The expectation is that the number of people with dementia will double to half a million by 2040.

That is why Alzheimer Nederland is running the Stop Dementia campaign. By investing more in scientific research will lead to better understanding of the origins of the disease and bring solutions. Leading scientists expect major breakthroughs in the prevention and treatment of dementia within five to ten years.

Recently, for example, there was news on a potential drug Aducanumab. Gerjoke Wilmink: "This is hopefully an important step in Alzheimer's research. A step towards the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, we naturally continue to work to achieve this for all forms of dementia. Because further research is desperately needed. With more research we come closer to a future without dementia for our children and grandchildren."

This week Alzheimer Nederland is having the annual door-to-door collection in the Netherlands. With one goal: to collect as much money as possible for a future without dementia. ‘’Thanks to our collectors, we can continue to invest more in research in the coming years, on the way to breakthroughs to stop this disease’’, says Arno van Gemert.

More information on www.alzheimer-nederland.nl

Aedifica – Listing Euronext Amsterdam

Stefaan Gielens, CEO of Aedifica, opened markets in Amsterdam today. Aedifica has been listed at Euronext Brussels since 2006 and acquired a second listing at Euronext Amsterdam today.

Aedifica is a regulated real estate company specialised in healthcare real estate, particularly in senior housing. The company has properties in Belgium (79 buildings), the Netherlands (43), Germany (49) and the UK (92), housing over 19,000 residents in total.

Aedifica’s secondary listing on Euronext Amsterdam is yet another illustration of our commitment and ambition for the growth of our healthcare real estate portfolio in the Netherlands,” says Stefaan Gielens. “This further establishes Aedifica as the market reference in listed European healthcare real estate.”

Berk Partners – Start 5th fund of Berk Partners

Willem Kamps, managing partner of investment company Berk Partners private equity, sounds the gong and opens the trading day to celebrate the successful start of the fifth Fund of Berk Partners.

About Berk Partners private equity

Berk Partners private equity has been an independent investment company for more than 25 years and assists companies and entrepreneurs in realizing their growth ambitions. Last year, Berk Partners private equity started a fifth investment fund and made three investments in companies since then.

Since its foundation more than 25 years ago, Berk Partners has played a major role in financing several SME’s. Berk Partners has provided growth financing to more than 40 SME’s in this period and has assisted DGA’s of SMEs with successions or pre-exits.

For more information: berkpartners.nl

Dutch Pension Federation – Start Pension3days 2019

On November 5th, 6th, and 7th 2019, the ninth edition of the National Pension3days will take place. During this period, the partners of the Money Wise Platform are engaged in a wide variety of activities aimed at motivating people to look at their retirement income and – if necessary – to take action.

Shaktie Rambaran Mishre, chair of the Dutch Pension Federation, will herald the Pension3days by sounding the gong of the Amsterdam stock exchange. Shaktie Rambaran Mishre: “These three days are about pensions, an important topic for everyone. Retirement is more than income for old age; many pension funds provide a benefit for spouse and children in case of a demise. It is comforting to know what the arrangements for your loved ones are in case you pass away. That is why survivors’ pension are in the spotlight this year”.

About Pension3days

The aim of the national Pension3days is to promote financial fitness and financial resilience at old age. The theme in 2019 is “Take care of each other” and is about survivor’s pension. Both Money Wise and the Pension Federation have developed a tool that gives the Dutch population insight into their own retirement situation. Money Wise’s tool “This is what you can do for your retirement” allows people to make an estimate of their financial situation at old age. The Pension Federation, together with Nibud and SVB, developed the “Survivor’s Money Guide”. This provides an easily accessible overview of income schemes after a demise.

Besides Money Wise and the Pension Federation, a large number of organizations participate in the Pension3days, including Authority for the Financial Markets, Association of Insurers, Pension Register Foundation, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, Adfiz, FFP, the Dutch Central Bank, Nibud, several banks, pension funds, insurers, labor unions, educational institutions, pension advisors and many other employers. They organize activities to answer pension questions, such as pension consultation, workshops throughout the country and education in the workplace.

For more information:

• www.pensioen3daagse.nl
• www.wijzeringeldzaken.nl/Dit-kun-jij-doen-voor-jouw-pensioen/
• www.geldwijzernabestaanden.nl

RTL-Z – Start Beursspel

The RTL Z Beursspel starts on Monday 4 November. For this occasion show host and awarded investor Janneke Willemse strikes the gong to open the Amsterdam stock exchange.

The RTL Z Beursspel introduces participants to the world of investment and lets them trade with a fictitious  amount of 100,000 Euros. The player who makes the most profit wins a trip to New York. The RTL Z Beursspel introduces different types of investment products to the participants.

For more information: www.rtlzbeursspel.nl