Deutsche Bank is a German global financial institution headquartered in Frankfurt. It is one of the world’s largest banks and operates internationally with operations in more than 70 countries. Deutsche Bank offers a wide range of financial services, including investment banking, asset management, retail banking and private banking. The bank has a long history and is involved in a variety of financial services, including advising businesses and high-net-worth individuals. Like many large banks, Deutsche Bank is subject to strict regulation and plays an important role in global financial markets. What did you study and how did the study help with the job you have now? I did several different studies and quite a detour. My first study was HEAO CE and IM, now known as HBO commercial economics. I then went on to study management and organizational sciences in Tilburg, now called business administration. Remarkably, after that study I started working as a stock trader, despite my non-financial background. Some understanding of math was an advantage for that position. I only did that for a year, as that company went bankrupt within a year. The owner, who had lived through the 1987 stock market crash, speculated daily on another stock market crash. Despite successful transactions for clients and a lucrative partnership with an American company, the company went bankrupt because of its own risky positions. During my time there, I had the opportunity to pursue several studies, including a master’s degree in finance in Tilburg. During my career, I also took leadership courses at INSEAD and most recently at the London Business School, all of which contributed to my development. I held several positions, including private banker and later as head of private banking and branch director in Eindhoven. The whole private banking world and its structure changed significantly during this period. In my early days, all administrative and support functions were organized locally, but this is now all centralized, partly due to automation. At Deutsche Bank Netherlands which now employs about 550 people where it was double that 10 years ago. Automation has led to the disappearance of functions, and the financial sector as a whole has become significantly smaller. When I started, the banking sector was one of the largest sectors in the Netherlands. If you looked at the AEX index and talked about financial companies. At that time, they formed a significant part of the total market capitalization of the AEX. Think of companies like ABN AMRO, ING, AEGON. Tech companies, however, have now added a new emphasis to the composition of the AEX. Is that due to do with the fact that many large companies are setting up in London? Physical bank branches like they used to be, are now gone. You may remember when you could simply walk into any town and find all the major banks located there, complete with full-service options, such as arranging mortgages with a mortgage broker or consulting an advisor for SMEs. That’s all a thing of the past. Most services are now done online, and the few remaining branches are mostly found in larger cities, where you can’t even just walk in without having an appointment. So, the barriers have become higher. The number of employees has decreased significantly, and call centres are on the rise, not only in the Netherlands but also abroad, such as in India. In short, there has been a profound change in the industry that has had a significant impact on employment. How could a student who wants to get into banking, prepare for it? The way it looks now, there have been some changes and some things have remained the same. The basics of a bank and the revenue model, whether financing or saving. A bank like Deutsche is a good example of this. A large international bank that serves it from multinationals to SMEs, to very wealthy individuals and families, and financial solutions for all these audiences. For a student it is attractive to work at an internationally operating bank that serves many customer segments with a great diversity of work and thus career opportunities. So why am I working at Deutsche and not more at a Dutch bank? This is mainly because of its international character and the versatility it offers. When I look back at what I’m doing now and why I like it so much, and why young people should consider it, is because of this audience, which I find particularly interesting. I also left the bank for a while. For six years I had my own business focused on the segment of very wealthy families, the so-called ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs). During my own time as an entrepreneur, I helped these high-net-worth families internationally to consolidate their wealth positions and provide insight through a digital platform. In 2020, that company was sold to an American party. After which I rejoined the bank. The reason why I chose Deutsche Bank and not a Dutch bank stems from the specific needs of this target group. They have sophisticated financial needs because of their global businesses and banking. Whether it is an operating company in a specific country, investing in real estate in New York, or acquiring another company, all of these diverse needs translate into financial solutions. The more international the bank can facilitate these clients, the more attractive you are as a bank to these types of clients. If you look at Deutsche Bank, it has not only private banking but also other services such as investment banking. Does that have an advantage over parties that only offer private banking? That’s a good question and exactly why I started working at Deutsche Bank. This is mainly because of the opportunities available within this bank. In addition to private Bank, there is also an investment bank and a corporate bank. This is different from most Dutch banks. Certain clients need this combined expertise. What makes private banking so interesting is the fact that you always communicate with the
Working at EY
For the Dutch version, click here. Who are you and how did you end up at EY? I am Bas, 22 years old, originally from a small village in Limburg, but since the start of my student days I have been living in Tilburg. After finishing my Bachelor in International Business Administration (including an exchange to Melbourne, Australia), I started the Master Accountancy, which I completed last summer. During my Master I oriented myself considerably on the life that would follow after my studies and this led me to a thesis internship at EY Eindhoven last February. Why did you choose to combine writing your thesis with an internship? When I started my Master I felt the pressure of adult work life slowly approaching. At the time, I had doubts whether a future within Accountancy was really my ambition. My friends and fellow students advised me to get in touch with companies in order to find an internship. I took part in several events of the study association ‘Asset | Accounting & Finance’ and that’s also how I came into contact with EY. A thesis internship felt like a safe choice to get a better idea of what work life is like this way, but at the same time still have enough time for my studies. Did this give you an advantage over your fellow students? My internship definitely gave me an advantage over fellow students without an internship. I had time available every week for my thesis, since the days I spent writing it counted toward my thesis internship. This motivated me to actually work on my thesis. In addition, I was assigned a “buddy” and “mentor” at EY. My buddy helped me with daily tasks and general questions. This was very accessible because he had also completed a thesis internship not long ago. My mentor, on the other hand, had been with EY for some time. Therefore, he was able to give me good career perspective and advice, as well as substantive support for my thesis. Were you able to achieve your personal goals during your thesis internship? I quickly noticed that I could achieve the most if I took a proactive approach and clearly stated what exactly I wanted to get out of my internship. It was recommended to spend 2 weeks with a team, but flexibility in that was possible. In total, I interned for 5 to 6 weeks myself, because my main reason for a thesis internship was to experience what the real-world work was like. Before I started as an intern, I was hesitant about whether I would be able to do my work well because I had no practical experience within Accountancy. During these internship weeks, these doubts quickly disappeared. Due to a warm welcome from the team and good supervision, my learning curve was fast. I realized that it was perfectly normal that I did not know everything yet, and everyone was open to help me where necessary. Partly because of these weeks, I discovered that I found the work extremely interesting, which suddenly made me a lot more confident about a future in Accountancy. “In my opinion, the best way to orient yourself is through a (thesis) internship or work-study.” Why did you choose to stick with EY? In fact, I was so sure about my future in Accountancy that I started as a Staff Audit at EY Eindhoven last September! Like many students, I was in doubt for a long time whether I wanted to extend my student time or was ready for a job. Since I liked the work and the atmosphere in the office so much, I decided to take the plunge and start working. During my internship, regular activities were organized (e.g. lunches, drinks and training sessions), which allowed me to get to know more and more people within EY. The switch from student to working took some getting used to, but in the end I am very happy that I took this step. Moreover, I am currently still following the Post-Master Accountancy on Fridays, so I still feel a bit like a student. You mentioned that you have now started, how have the first months been? So far, the work has suited me well. During my internship period, the corona measures were stricter than now, which made it difficult for teams to go to clients together. For that reason, I find it extra nice that this is now possible again. Over the past few months I have been able to see and learn a lot. Every day I learn new things and I am definitely not finished with my personal and professional development. Moreover, through both my internship and the two-week starter induction in September, I have been able to build a good relationship with my ‘year layer’ of EY starters, whom I can now also call colleagues. I am surrounded by people who have also made the step from intern to employee, with similar experiences, and this is very nice. What else would you like to tell students? I hear many doubts from students: “Am I going to do Accountancy, or Finance, or something else altogether?” In my opinion, the best way to orient yourself is through a (thesis) internship or work-study. During this period you will find out what work involves and what it is like within a sector. One last tip from me: go to (Accountancy) events, talk to fellow students, or send a message to a campus recruiter. A (thesis) internship can really help you clear your doubts! If you have any questions, you can always send me a message on LinkedIn.
A board year as External Affairs of Asset | Accounting & Finance – Thomas Mols
For Dutch, click here. Who am I? I am Thomas Mols, 22 years old and from Tilburg. A year ago I became active at Asset | Accounting & Finance in my third year of the bachelor International Business Administration. After six months of doing committee work for the Finance Expedition, I became more familiar with A&F. I participated in almost every activity, getting to know a lot of people and making great memories. Besides studying and A&F, I spent my free time in the gym and mostly among other people. Why did I choose the function external? In the third year of my bachelor’s degree, the corona measures got lessened and I felt working life was already approaching. I had the urge to get more out of my college days so I joined A&F. By joining events often, I quickly got to know the association. I always ruled out a board year because I would have to take a break from studying. After a good conversation with some of the board members, I finally saw the value of a board year and decided to apply. What interested me most was the practical work a board member does. After several years of working in theoretical subjects only, I needed a change. In addition, I was unsure of which master’s degree I wanted to pursue, and I thought it would be useful to get a better idea of the possibilities offered by different masters during the year. The external affairs position specifically attracted me the most because you have contact with many companies and can get an inside look at everything. At the same time, I believed I could learn the most with this position. What does it deliver? The most important thing is that you are one board together. Within the board, everyone has a function with delineated responsibilities, so everyone looks at situations with their own perspective and gives their input from there. Decisions are often made together. During a board year you learn to work together very well. Not only within A&F, but also together with the other Asset departments as you will engage in consultation or discussion. You will learn how to identify interests, work and perform under pressure and how to present your opinion or strategy. In addition to the role within the board and within A&F, as external affairs you have a major role towards the outside world. You translate the wishes of companies into the opportunities the association can offer. How you want to position the association as a board is translated by the external to companies and students in the contact you have on a daily basis. So during the board year you learn to communicate in a changing context. By being in contact with so many people, both students and business people, you’re bound to build a huge network. A very useful extra for the future! What do I do as an external? As winter external affairs, you start up the Financial Business Dinner and Finance Expedition committees at the beginning of your year. You make sure the committee members know what their tasks are and guide them through the rest of the year in the work they do. In addition, you are responsible for all social media channels. This means you will help shape the policies that are written by the board during the summer. In the summer, you also help write this policy. In any case, with social media you focus on increasing the reach of the channels. During the year you will occasionally help organize other events and activities. These activities ensure the development you go through in collaborating and communicating. An important task that you perform at different times during the year is doing acquisition for collaborations with companies. The challenge in this is that you have different ways of entering into a conversation. The trick is to get a grip on the interests of the other party, to understand the context and to respond appropriately. As I mentioned earlier, you are also part of a board. You sometimes take over tasks from each other and jump in where necessary. In addition to managing your own department, you form “task forces” with other directors who take on tasks together. These range from organizing Master Experience Days to coming up with new Asset Member Card deals. In organizing events and the regular tasks you have, you don’t have unlimited time. Therefore, it is important that you prioritize and work efficiently. Because of the range of tasks you have, you will learn responsibility and develop time management skills. Conclusion All in all, a board year is a great opportunity to develop yourself and gradually make some amazing memories along the way. And to top it all off you get to help build the greatest study association that Tilburg has to offer!
A board year as Vice-Chairman of Asset | Accounting & Finance – Jonas van Voorst
For the Dutch version, click here. Who am I? I am Jonas van Voorst, 21 years old and come from beautiful Den Bosch. In February 2020 I started living in my room and I really like it. I am now in the third year of the bachelor International Business Administration, and am taking a number of courses in preparation for the MSc. Economics. Before my board year, I was convinced to follow the Accountancy master, but since I started, I am more oriented and have gained a strong interest in Economics. Furthermore, I started within A&F with the Activities Committee a year ago, I really enjoyed it and therefore decided to do a board year. My choice to do a board year. The choice for a year on the board was actually made pretty quickly. I was not very convinced about my choice to do a master’s degree yet, and because of corona my student life had been put on pause for a while, so I wanted to extend it. When Joep called me if I was interested in applying, I figured this was a good opportunity to discover where my interests lay, and thus extend my student life. Furthermore, I noticed that I was very chaotic in my studies. A year on the board has given me a fixed rhythm and a much more organised way of working. For example, I have an agenda where I put my appointments and a notebook where I keep track of my tasks. Among other things, these are important soft skills that you develop during your board year. I also wanted to develop myself socially, for this reason I also joined A&F. As a board member, I work with 6 people every day, and you speak to a lot of people within A&F and Asset, so you learn to deal with many different types of people. In addition, my resume was very empty, and I thought a board year was a very good way to change that. Of course I also do it for fun, besides the tasks I have, I regularly do fun things with my board in the rooms or at someone’s house, because of this I have a good bond that will continue after my board year. I also attend almost every party, and have regular get-togethers with other boards, through which I have also made many friends! What a Vice-Chairman does all day long The to-do list of a Vice-Chairman is very vague, which is why I often get asked by friends if I do anything all day besides being hungover and playing a game of Mario Kart. As Vice-Chairman, I am responsible for several things. Since I’m in the rooms almost all day, I have a good sense of what’s going on, and here I occasionally talk about it with the chairman, Luc. I also take over the chairman’s duties when he is not here. I also still have my own duties. I am responsible for the internal policy of A&F. This includes filling the committees, informal promotion and I am also responsible for the active and passive members. I arrange the study support in the form of guidelines, CoEE and various trainings. Furthermore, I organise the introduction activities for the Master of Accountancy and Finance, board trainings, the Citytrip Replacement Activity and the Audit Activity together with our secretary, Lars van Maris. Finally, within A&F I also make sure that the website is up to date. Think of events, news, partner pages. This is another side to being informal so I find that a very nice change. Within Asset Tilburg, I also have plenty of duties. I sit on four Asset bodies: the Public Relations meeting, the Webmaster meeting, the BE cluster and the Study Support meeting. The Public Relations meeting is a weekly meeting with the Vice-Chairmans of each department. Together we organise, among other things, all informal activities from Asset Tilburg. Think of the Kick-Off party or the Pre-Carnival party. We are also responsible for most of the promotion of Asset Tilburg. I am responsible for the budget of the promotion and activities. I also attend the Webmaster meeting with every Asset board member who manages the website of his/her own department. Together we manage the website of Asset Tilburg, we are also busy redesigning the site. I also join the BE cluster every Thursday. Together with S&L, SBIT and Marketing we are responsible for the committees and activities for first- and second-year Business Economics students. I coordinate two committees: the Date Dinner Committee and the Accounting Insight Committee. Starting next year, the Vice-Chairman is also going to coordinate the Citytrip Committee, but unfortunately it will not happen this year. What is the most enjoyable aspect of the Vice-Chairman position? I really like different aspects of the Vice-Chairman position. When I applied, I knew that the Vice-Chairman position appealed to me by far the most of the positions. I regularly saw what my predecessor, Joep, was doing and this excited me. What I like most is that through the conversations with active members you get a picture of each member, and for the active members you are also a point of contact, so at activities you are quickly addressed and you quickly get to know everyone. This contact is not only a lot of fun, but also educational because you get to interact with different types of people Would I recommend a board year? I would definitely recommend a board year! It is a great consideration, so don’t be afraid to talk to a current board member. This can be very helpful if you run into something or want a new insight. Ultimately, a board year is an investment in yourself that you are going to benefit from for a long time to come through your development and connections, and beyond that you are going to be able to look back on this with a lot of joy!
Rise of student venture capital
For the Dutch version, click here. venture capital is often seen as the final step of your career within finance and investing. Typically, those who run venture capital funds have already been successful in their previous endeavors. Before someone takes on the venture capital industry, they have often been the founder of a successful startup or have an extensive career within the financial sector. Because of this, it is not a surprise that the average age of venture capital fund managers lie above 40 years old. For the longest time, no-one would question this description of those in the industry. However, in 2012 this changed when Josh Kopelman founded the Dorm Room Fund, the very first venture capital fund run by students. The status quo At first glance, having a venture capital fund run by students sounds like a terrible idea. Usually, students have no business experience yet, let alone the ability to run a venture capital fund. venture capital funds manage millions of dollars of external investors, which is invested in the high risk investment opportunities of startups. Because of this it is reasonable that these funds are expected to be run by experienced professionals, but not students. So why should a venture capital fund be run by students? To understand this we have to look at the kind of investments venture capital funds make. venture capital funds seek to invest in startups that have extraordinary growth potential. They want to invest in the startup stages of companies, where the risk is big, but the potential upside even bigger. If we narrow down to early stage venture capital funds, those who are the first investors in startups, we see that they invest in startups within 2 years of their inception. If we then also look at those who would found these startups, the advantage of student-run venture capital funds becomes clear. The value of students Mark Zuckerburg, founder of Facebook, Larry Page & Sergey Brin, founders of Google, Evan Spiegel, founder of Snapchat, and too many more to name. All of these incredibly successful entrepreneurs all started their respective companies while they were students. And who do you think would have heard about their idea first? The ~40 year old fund manager, or the students who know them personally. Of course it is going to be the students that know them personally, their friends, their classmates, and their teammates. Simply put, student-run venture capital is way better suited to find the next big thing before it is popular than any other venture capital fund. But it doesn’t stop there, because of the personal connections between the student startup founder and the student-run venture capital fund, they are also able to determine whether the student entrepreneur is actually building something incredible, or just chasing clout. After the creation of the Dorm Room Fund, other student-run venture capital fund would also start to pop up in the United States. One example is Rough Draft Ventures, which was also founded in 2012. Both the Dorm Room Fund and Rough Draft Ventures were associated with other venture capital funds, First Round Capital and General Catalyst respectively, which are still run by typical fund managers. Generally, the other student-run venture capital funds in the US were set up by universities, where the universities see these funds as a way to provide students with real-world hands-on experience while simultaneously supporting student entrepreneurs. While the funds originating from the universities remained relatively small, both the Dorm Room Fund and Rough Draft Ventures have grown immensely. Combined they have invested in hundreds of startups. Europe follows suit Compared to the United States, Europe was a little later to the party. The Dutch Student Investment Fund was the first student-run venture capital fund in Europe in 2016, but was soon followed by Campus Capital which was founded in the UK in the same year. In the years after, more and more student-run venture capital funds were created; First Momentum in Germany in 2017, Amsterdam Student Investment Fund in the Netherlands in 2017, or S2S ventures in Switzerland in 2021 to name a few. In the future, this trend will continue. The rise of student-run venture capital funds is not limited to the rise in the number of funds there are, but also the rise in professionalism. Most student-run venture capital funds remain limited to an associated university, operating on a small scale and not doing much specializing, but a few student-run venture capital funds are being created independently, for example, Graduate Entrepreneur and Round One Ventures. Both operate fully independently, and at a larger scale, and do more than just investing. Looking back at the United States, we also see that The Dorm Room Fund has also become independent in 2021, and more will follow suit. What will the future hold The advantage of students within venture capital is not overlooked by the established players within the venture capital industry such as Sequoia. These funds have recognized the potential of students and are now also trying to capitalize on them by setting up student ambassador programs, so that they too can have that personal connection with student entrepreneurs. All in all, the people who believe that students have no place within the venture capital industry should think about reconsidering this. Furthermore, any students who want to enter the industry but think that they need the experience first, should reach out to student-run venture capital funds, or better yet start their own.
