Rabobank and Terre des Hommes sound gong

Trading day at the Amsterdam exchange is opened by Rabobank and Terre des Hommes, together they combat child exploitation. Director Retail & Private Banking, Ron Droste, sounds the gong.

It’s not unusual for full moving boxes to be left in the attic for at least a year after moving. Three out of ten people in the Netherlands store items such as books, home accessories, clothes, CDs and household items in their attics. In some cases we never intend to use these items, while in others we think they might come in handy one day. But most of the time these boxes are never touched or are moved unopened to the next attic.

This inspired Rabobank and the Terre des Hommes charity to come up with the idea of the Home Box. Every customer who visits Rabobank for a mortgage consultation or exploratory meeting is given a box to take home with them. The customer can then use it to bring usable items to one of the 42 Terre des Hommes shops in the Netherlands. Terres des Hommes subsequently uses the proceeds from selling the contents of these boxes to provide children in exploitative situations with a structurally better future.

For more information: www.tehuisdoos.nl

ASN Sustainable Equity fund wins Green Bull

The ASN Sustainable Equity Fund has won the Green Bull (Groene Stier). The prize for best sustainable investment fund in the Netherlands. Director Bas-Jan Blom opens the trading day by sounding the gong.

The website Belegger.nl annually awards seven Golden Bulls and one Green Bull to the leaders in the financial services industry. After extensive research the editors of the website determine who are eligible for one of the eight Golden Bulls. Then a jury of experts selects the winners. This is the second time that ASN Sustainable Equity Fund has won the Green Bull. The jury noted the distinctive sustainable strategy, good performance and low cost.

The ASN Sustainable Equity Fund invests worldwide in large companies that have sustainable leaders in their sector. They meet the strict sustainability criteria of ASN Investment Funds. The manager assesses companies on human rights, including labor rights; environment and climate; animal welfare; transparency and community involvement. In selecting companies, the manager also takes into account their CO2 emissions: the smaller it is, the more the fund invests in the company.

For more information: www.asnbank.nl

Amsterdam Light Festival visits Beursplein 5

Amsterdam Light Festival brings light to the darkest time of the year and enlightens visitors with colorful artworks. Chairman Felix Guttman sounds the gong and opens trading at the Amsterdam exchange.

For 51 days, the historical center of Amsterdam is the unique decor for this international festival. The city is complemented by 35 light sculptures, projections and installations by contemporary (inter)national artists. The boat route, Water Colors, takes visitors past artworks along Amsterdam’s canals. The walking route, Illuminade, winds through the city center. During the festival, light plays a central role in the city as museums and cultural institutions organize light-related activities, introducing visitors to innovations in light art.

For more information: www.amsterdamlightfestival.com

Christmas Tree for Charity

Christmas Tree for Charity sounds gong

With the sounding of the gong, Sky Radio, the Dutch Diabetes Research Foundation and Foundation DON ask for attention for the impact an severity of diabetes.

During Sky Radio’s yearly event ‘Christmas Tree for Charity’ nine pairs of national celebrities competed for the ‘best decorated Christmas tree’ of the year. For the Dutch Diabetes Research Foundation and Foundation DON, ambassadors Barry Atsma and Do battled for the good cause. With their symbolic tree topper, they asked for attention for the increasing numbers of diabetes patients, and the necessity of the search for a cure.

The ambassador’s pair is proud to have won the first prize of 10.000 euro and Sky Radio commercial time worth 25.000 euro, for the Dutch Diabetes Research Foundation and Foundation DON: ‘Diabetes is a much underestimated disease. We are happy with this first prize, which will support important diabetes research, that is fantastic’.

For more information: www.skyradio.nl

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Wings of Support

Wings of Support opens trading

Wings of Support, an initiative of employees of the Euronext listed Air France-KLM (ticker symbol: AF), opens trading at Beursplein 5.

Their purpose is to help children in countries that KLM flies to by means of facilitating education, shelter and medical care. Thus, Wings of Support wants to bring about sustained improvement of the quality of life of these children in their own environment. In principle, the support of the projects is given on KLM destinations with financial support from our supporters and sponsors. Since 2014 the foundation is proud to be one of KLMs partners in the KLM Takes Care program. 

Because of the nature of their work, the airline staff regularly stays in many countries, therefore they can visit a project to a maximum extent, both by Wings of Support contributors and by interested supporters/sponsors. Wings of Support is also supported by various companies other than KLM, as well as private individuals. The foundation is operating independently of KLM.

For more information: www.wingsofsupport.org

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FD Gazellen

FD Gazellen visits Beursplein 5

The winner of the FD Gazellen Award opens trading. Online touroperator Slangen has been named fastest growing company in the Neterlands. Founder Ed Slangen sounds the gong.

The FD Gazellen Award, which is organized for the eleventh time, is an initiative of newspaper the FD, Company Info, ABN AMRO and MAZARS Accountants and Tax Advisors. To be eligible for nomination companies must realize a business revenue growth of at least 20% within three years, have a positive net result and be financially healthy.

For more information: www.fd.nl

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Klepierre enters CAC 40 index

Laurent Morel, Chairman, Klepierre, opens the European trading day in Paris.

A leading shopping center property company in Europe, Klépierre combines development, rental, property, and asset management skills. Its portfolio is valued at 21.9 billion euros on June 30 2015. It comprises large shopping centers in 16 countries of Continental Europe. Klépierre holds a controlling stake in Steen & Strøm (56.1%), Scandinavia's number one shopping center owner and manager.Klépierre's largest shareholders are Simon Property Group (20.3%), world leader in the shopping center industry and APG (13.6%), a Netherlands-based pension fund firm. Klépierre is a French REIT (SIIC) listed on Euronext ParisTM and Euronext Amsterdam and is included in the CAC Next20 and CAC Large 60 indexes, the SBF 80, the EPRA Euro Zone, and the GPR 250 indexes. Klépierre is also included in several ethical indexes - DJSI World and Europe, FTSE4Good, STOXX® Global ESG Leaders, Euronext Vigeo France 20 and Eurozone 120 - and is a member of both Ethibel Excellence and Ethibel Pioneer investment registers. Klépierre is also ranked as a Green Star by GRESB (Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark). These distinctions mark the Group's commitment to a voluntary sustainable development policy.

Best Broker 2015 award

DeGiro sounds gong for Best Broker 2015 award

DeGiro opens trading at the Amsterdam exchange in honour of winning the ‘Gouden Stier’ (Golden Bull) award for best Dutch broker. Director Niels Klok sounds the gong.

Nominees for ‘best broker 2015’ the ‘Gouden Stier’ were judged on a number of factors such as commission fees, trading opportunities, investment tools and terms and conditions at various brokers in the Netherlands. Further to the expert eye of the jury, a survey was conducted among retail investors.

Gijs Nagel, Director Retail clients DeGiro: “We are proud to have been elected as best broker 2015 by stakeholders in the industry. We hit the bull’s-eye offering institutional commission fees to retail investors. Today 85.000 investors have found their way to DeGiro.’’

DeGiro was established in 2008 in The Netherlands. Their vision was to service the professional market as well as retail investors with a highly innovative and low-cost alternative to the existing range of brokerage platforms. Low prices combined with a secure, reliable and innovative trading platform has resulted in rapid growth.

For more information: www.degiro.nl

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M&A awards

M&A award winners open trading

The M&A winners sound the gong and open the trading day. The M&A awards have been awarded for the sixteenth time to the top in terms of M&A, corporate finance and private equity. With more winners than ever, the deal year of 2015 has been officially closed.

The M&A Community is the network for professionals in M&A, investment bankers, corporate finance advisors, private equity and venture capital investors and professionals working for (large) corporates active in M&A as M&A Directors, Corporate Development Directors, CFOs, General Counsel and CEOs. The best deals are made with the right knowledge and best contacts. Therefore, the M&A Community offers opportunities for knowledge, networking and careers during various forums and Master classes, the Private Equity Summit, Corporate growths Summit and M&A Magazine.

For more information: www.mena.nl

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High Growth Awards

High Growth Awards sound gong

On behalf of the winners and partners of the High Growth Awards, regional winners Patrick Villevoye – Logistic Force and Marco Barkmeijer – Securelink open trading at the Amsterdam exchange. Owner and initiator of the High Growth Awards, Joop de Jong – Port4Growth sounds the gong.

The High Growth Awards is an award show for the best and hardest growing companies in the Netherlands. A winner was chosen for every region, 6 in total. From these regional winners AWL Techniek from Harderwijk was chosen as the overall winner. Besides the regional winners there str three prices with specific topics, chosen by the partners of Port4Growth: Philips Innovation Services, Rabobank and Grant Thornton. Among the nominees were companies from all sectors, from transportation to software and production.

Different from other competitions the judges judge the quality of the actual growth, instead of the quantity. All nominees must have grown substantial for at least three years.

For more information: www.highgrowthawards.nl

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The Other Businessman

The Other Businessman sounds gong

The winners of ‘The Other Businessman 2015’ award visit Beursplein 5 and open the trading day. The election is an initiative of business club The Other Network.

Rodney Leysner has won ‘The Other Businessman 2015’ award for best multicultural entrepreneur in the Netherlands. Shurendy Gerardus was voted ‘The Other Manager 2015’, the best multicultural manager of the Netherlands. ‘The Other Businessman’ is sponsored by, amongst others, Euronext listed KPN.

Alderman Rabin Baldewsingh and presenter Diana Matroos presented the awards at the annual gala at Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin in Noordwijk. With the election The Other Network wants to give more visibility to successful multicultural business owners and managers, as well as encourage cultural diversity at the top of the Dutch business community. The Other Businessman award has been awarded for the tenth time.

For more information: www.theotherbusinessman.nl

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Kempen Orange Fund

Kempen Orange Fund celebrates its 25th listing anniversary

Kempen Orange Fund celebrates its 25-year listing anniversary. Fund Manager Michiel van Dijk sounds the gong on this occasion and opens trading.

Kempen Orange Fund N.V. invests in smaller and medium-sized Dutch companies that are included in the GPR Dutch Small Cap Index. Kempen Orange Fund N.V. has the objective to earn a structurally higher return (capital gain and dividends) than its benchmark: GPR Dutch Small Cap Index. 

During this quarter of a century, the investment fund has invested in small-cap and midcap companies listed on Euronext. Joop Witteveen, Fund Manager of the Kempen Orange Fund: ‘The Orange Fund is unique; not just because of its long history, but particularly because of the passion that is reflected in the investments of our people – then as much as today.’

For more information: www.kempen.nl/orangefund

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ING Private Banking

ING Private Banking sponsors Dutch Golf Federation

ING Private Banking (ticker symbol: INGA) opens trading and announces the main sponsorship of Dutch golf. Golf professional Mark Reynolds sounds the gong.

By sponsoring ING Private Banking has an intensive cooperation with the Dutch Golf Federation with the aim to rejuvenate and renew the Dutch golf. The focus is on three priorities: boosting youth golf to generate growth in the future, stimulating top-level golf and encouraging innovation in the sport. ING Private Banking is both main sponsor of the Dutch Golf Federation (NGF), Golf Team Holland as well as a partner of the Ladies Open and the KLM Open.

ING is one of the largest and leading financial services providers in the Netherlands. ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering services through its subsidiary ING Bank and has a significant interest in NN Group NV. The objective of ING Bank is to enable people to stay a step ahead, both in life and in work.

For more information: www.ing.nl/Private-Banking

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Think Morningstar® North America Equity UCITS ETF

Think ETF’s launches new ETF

Think ETF’s has launched a new  ETF on Euronext Amsterdam. Aaron Renkers, fund manager at Think ETF’s, sounds the gong.

The Think Morningstar® North America Equity UCITS ETF tracks the performance of the Morningstar® North America 100 Equal Weight Index™, a newly created index consisting of 100 of the largest and most liquid stocks listed in the United States and Canada. Think ETF’s will meet requests from clients to offer more regional building blocks. Along with the Think European Equity UCITS ETF launched last October, this latest offering is the second regional ETF being offered by Think ETF’s.

Think ETF’s is the first Dutch provider of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). The company was founded in 2008 and launched its first ETF in 2009.  Morningstar Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia.

For more information: www.thinketfs.nl

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SnowWorld

SnowWorld marks two-year listing

By sounding the gong, SnowWorld (ticker symbol: SNOW) marks its two-year listing anniversary on the Amsterdam Exchange. CEO Koos Hendriks sounds the gong.

The reverse listing in December 2013 did not only improve SnowWorld’s solvency, but also provided them access to the capital markets. The company has thus become less dependent on the future availability of bank credit for the execution of its strategy.

The process of the IPO and subsequent issue of new shares in February 2014 led to a further professionalization of SnowWorld. The introduction of a Supervisory Board has played an important role and SnowWorld has formulated a clear strategy. The implementation of this strategy will take place within a framework of risk management and corporate governance.

For more information: www.snowworld.com

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ICMA Future Leaders

ICMA Future Leaders event visit Beursplein 5

Henk Rozendaal, Chairman of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Netherlands regional committee, sounds the gong to open trading on the occasion of ICMA’s Future Leaders’ event in Amsterdam.

ICMA has set up an ICMA Future Leaders Committee, for individuals in the early stages of their career, to improve its engagement with the younger generation among its membership. ICMA places great importance on reaching out to younger finance professionals in its member firms not only to raise awareness of the Association’s work and the benefits they could reap from its services, but also to foster a sense of community.

ICMA is the only trade association to grow up alongside the development of the cross-border capital markets. Not linked to any one national market, ICMA has promoted the development of efficient global capital markets for close to 50 years. Its code of industry-driven rules and recommendations is followed by its members and sets the recognised standard for best practice in the primary, secondary and repo markets for international fixed income and related instruments. ICMA has some 500 member firms in almost 60 countries, including banks and financial institutions who are active in international capital markets.

For more information: www.icmagroup.org

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Verenigde Nederlandse Compagnie

Verenigde Nederlandse Compagnie opens trading

Verenigde Nederlandse Compagnie (ticker symbol: VNC) opens trading at the Amsterdam exchange by sounding the gong.

Geert Schaaij, the CEO of Verenigde Nederlandse Compagnie, formerly Roto Smeets, has symbolically launched a new listed investment fund by sounding the gong.

The fund has three clear objectives; all acquisitions should have positive cash flow, a clear business model and have a growth potential which can create value per share. The objective is also directed to a solid dividend policy.

For more information: www.vncnv.nl

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BE Semiconductor Industries

BE Semiconductor Industries celebrates 20th listing anniversary

BE Semiconductor Industries (ticker symbol: BESI) celebrates its 20th anniversary as a public company by opening trading on Euronext Amsterdam with the sounding of the gong.

Richard Blickman, CEO of Besi commented: “We are pleased to be here today to commemorate our initial listing as a public company 20 years ago. Since our inception as a public company in 1995, it has been an exciting journey as Besi has grown from being a local Dutch system and tooling manufacturer to become one of the leading semiconductor assembly equipment manufacturers in the world.’’

Besi is a leading supplier of semiconductor assembly equipment for the global semiconductor and electronics industries offering high levels of accuracy, productivity and reliability at a low cost of ownership. The company develops leading edge assembly processes and equipment for lead frame, substrate and wafer level packaging applications in a wide range of end-user markets including electronics, mobile internet, computer, automotive, industrial, LED and solar energy. Customers are primarily leading semiconductor manufacturers, assembly subcontractors and electronics and industrial companies.

For more information: www.besi.com

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