For the Dutch version, click here With over twenty years of experience within the company, Huub Vermeulen stepped down as CEO of bol.com last November. In this article you can read more about Huub, his career, milestones and transfer. Can you tell us about your study background and career? As a young man I always had an affinity with technology. That’s how I started studying electrical engineering. I soon found out that the programming part in particular suited me. You have to imagine that in this era the personal computer did not yet exist. In short, a nice challenge to work with computers. Because of my affinity with programming, I eventually started working at Philips. After a few years I switched from the large company Philips to a small company in Boxtel, where I sold complex technical projects to large companies. I liked this switch; a small company where people felt an affinity with the purpose of the company and where you can make your own contribution to its development. From here I started looking for a management-related position. I continued to grow at a secondment company for software employees and after some time I held the position of commercial director. In this position I have had both successes and setbacks. However, setbacks are inevitable and it makes you stronger both personally and professionally. My next step was a position as operational director at a CD factory in Tilburg. As a company, we had discovered a new customer group within CD production and logistics, including bol.com. We saw a collaboration with bol.com as a great opportunity for growth, so we started a project for the logistics of bol.com in a garage. It soon turned into a large and successful project. At one point I became CEO of Docdata e-commerce fulfillment, now called Ingram Micro, after which I made the switch to bol.com itself after a year or two. It is great to see that the handful of Docdata employees has now grown into a large company with logistics activities throughout Europe. Also a fun fact about bol.com: twenty years ago about 20 people worked here, 3 of whom were logistics employees. The logistics department has now grown to more than 200 people and the total number of employees to approximately 2500 to 3000. During my career I actually started working for smaller and smaller companies, and what did I notice? The smaller the company, the more fun I liked it. With small companies you are much closer to the soul of the company, which makes the connection with the business operations much stronger. My goal has always been to maintain the connection with the purpose of the company, despite the growth of bol.com. As an employee you have to feel that what you do matters and contributes to the purpose of the company. In November you will stop as CEO at bol.com. What is your reason for resigning? A few years ago I already said to those around me that after twenty years of employment it would be time to stop. This term has now expired, so I guess I have to surrender to it. I have to say that the CEO position of a growing company like bol.com is a very nice, but also a very intensive job. Therefore, I am now also ready to take a job in a somewhat freer role, in which I can expand my world further. I especially hope to take up a role in which my affinity with entrepreneurship can be expressed. What role this will be exactly, I’m not sure yet. For example, I think it would be cool to sit down with entrepreneurs, for example young innovative start-ups, and help them in the development of their company. You have been working at bol.com for more than 20 years. How do you view the growth and development bol.com has gone through? In her younger years bol.com started out as a physical bookseller. The sales range expanded to CDs, video tapes, etc., so that bol.com grew into the largest media store in the Netherlands in 2007. We are no longer purely a media store; but an online platform that sells pretty much anything. Bol.com has therefore made a gigantic transformation, in the field of assortment, from physical to online platform, and from retail to retail tech. Within this continuous growth, it is a challenge to maintain the culture and working method of bol.com. For example, we used to have a daily lunch where all 20 employees sat at the table together. After the lunch break everyone was up to speed on all developments. We now have more than 2500 employees, so it is a challenge to keep all employees connected to the company and to get them on board with the vision. A culture in which employees feel connected to each other and the business model is essential for a successful company. This growth also requires bol.com to continuously reinvent itself. This actually makes us as a company some kind of business experiment. You have to continuously adapt to the size you have and to the type of company you are. Daily business operations therefore require continuous creativity and thinking. This makes working for bol.com very fun and challenging. What have been personal milestones for you in your career at bol.com? Growing from a start-up with 20 employees to a large developed retail tech company with a large group of motivated employees, I have been able to experience many milestones together with my colleagues. For example, I still remember the first 100 million euros in turnover, because we had officially passed the start-up phase. The acquisition of Ahold was also one to remember, as it coincided perfectly with our growth plan to expand our range to all product categories. However, I don’t see my role in this as unique because we all did it together. Of course I had my own goals when I held the position of CEO. For example, when
Working at Rembrandt Mergers & Acquisitions
For the Dutch version, click here Who are you and what did you study? My name is Felix Gulinck and I am originally from ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Since the start of my study Econometrics I have lived in Tilburg. After completing the bachelor Econometrics & Operational Research, I did the master Quantitative Finance & Actuarial Science (QFAS). During my studies I always played hockey in the premier league at HC Tilburg Heren 1 and I still do that now. How did you come into contact with Corporate Finance / M&A? Knowing that there are many different options within finance? During my master I followed a number of finance courses and I soon found out that I had more passion for that than the hardcore Econometrics courses. Knowing this, I spoke with several people who work in the M&A sector. At a certain point I had a good idea for myself at what kind of company I would like to work and then I came into contact with Rembrandt Mergers & Acquisitions. How did you come into contact with Rembrandt Mergers & Acquisitions? Because I knew at a certain point that I wanted a job in the M&A sector, I was able to delve further into what kinds of companies operate in that sector. My preference was for a company where I would not only sit behind my computer but also have contact with customers. In addition, I was looking for a company with a friendly atmosphere. What really appealed to me about Rembrandt was that projects are carried out in teams of two; a project manager and a project assistant. As a result, both the project manager and project employee are closely involved in every step in the purchase or sales process, and as a project employee you also have a lot of contact with customers. What is the ideal profile of a student/starter who would like to work at Rembrandt? At Rembrandt, we would like you to have completed at least 1 master’s degree in business economics. The master’s in finance is best suited in terms of subject matter because you will already have had some valuation theory. But with good numerical insight and some extra preparation you can also be hired. Rembrandt is looking for students who distinguish themselves. The combination of grades, study duration and, above all, additional activities are viewed as an overall picture. I’ll take myself as an example: Econometrics is not the program that best suits M&A. But by completing a financial education at university, you have a good (numerical) basis. In addition, as a top athlete you also take extra luggage with you; dealing with performance pressure, good feedback skills, training and team dynamics. To what extent are aspects of your studies reflected in your work? It was only during my master’s degree that I took a few finance courses, but then it was all quite theoretical and it was difficult for me to determine to what extent I could apply it in practice. Now that I have been working for a number of years, I notice that I understand better and better how you can put the acquired theory into practice. “When a transaction is closed, this is of course celebrated with champagne.” The Transaction services sector is known for having to deal with high work pressure and long hours, how close does this come to reality? There are certainly times when the workload is high and you may have to work overtime, but that is certainly not the norm with Rembrandt. By managing expectations well and by planning well, you can largely ensure that you do not get stuck. In addition, colleagues think along when one person is very busy, for example by taking over certain activities. Rembrandt’s culture is also that you work “normal hours” and work-life balance is important. This gives me time in the evenings for other things, such as playing hockey. As a team we train 5 times a week and we also play matches. Rembrandt thinks along with me and gives me the freedom to organize my days differently so that I can attend the training sessions. What makes Rembrandt different from the transaction departments of ‘large’ firms (e.g. Big4)? Rembrandt is an M&A boutique that mainly focuses on SMEs in the Netherlands. We attach great importance to the work-life balance. We work with small project teams, so you can quickly take on a lot of responsibility and have contact with customers. Because the project teams consist of 2 people, you are involved in the entire process and you guide the entrepreneurs from the beginning to the end. I myself have no experience with how things work in the transaction departments of the larger offices, but I can well imagine that the project teams there are larger and that as a starter you therefore have fewer responsibilities and less direct contact with customers. What does the average week of a Consultant at Rembrandt look like? The work at Rembrandt is very different and no day is the same. Because you are involved in different projects, you are busy with various activities during the day. The work varies from performing valuations to negotiating with potential candidates. A working day at Rembrandt is difficult to predict because often things come up in between that have priority for a while. As colleagues we have a lot of contact with each other and we try to help each other where possible. When a transaction is closed, this is of course celebrated with champagne. Both positive and negative: what is the most challenging part of your job at Rembrandt? The variety in Rembrandt is something I really enjoy and find challenging. Both in terms of companies, we do transactions between roughly € 1 – € 100 million in all sectors, and in terms of type of transactions, both buying and selling. Each project is ultimately different due to the activities of the company and I have discovered that entrepreneurs also differ a
Why Starbucks also acts as a bank
For the Dutch version, click here Starbucks What began in 1971 as a small coffee shop in Seattle, has grown into a global phenomenon nowadays: Starbucks. With 30,000 outlets around the world, it is impossible to imagine the world without it. In 2020, the company was ranked 37th in Forbes’ list of “most valuable brands”, valued at 18 billion dollars. Starbucks owes a large part of their success to a loyal customer base. To reward these customers, Starbucks has been using loyalty cards for years. For every nine drinks you order, you get the tenth from Starbucks. In a number of countries, this punch card has been digitised into an app. Besides making sure customers don’t lose their cards, this also ensures that Starbucks manages almost 1.6 billion dollars from customers, for which it doesn’t have to do anything in return. Starbucks vs. PayPal Customers can put money on a digital (or physical) card. They can then use the money on the card to pay at Starbucks. So the app works like a bank account: Starbucks can invest the money between the period when customers deposit the money and withdraw it (When they are buying coffee). Therefore, Starbucks can thus make a profit with the money within this period. The most recent annual report shows that customers have deposited a total of 1.59 billion dollars in these Starbucks accounts. Because customers receive no interest, they provide the company with free money.Actually, this is not unusual. The interest rate on a Dutch bank account has been 0% for some time now. The difference is in the reserves that banks have to keep and Starbucks does not. Financial institutions are subject to strict regulation and must adhere to rules when investing customer money. A good comparison is PayPal, which also manages money from customers until they decide to use this money in online transactions. They are obliged to keep a large part of this money in cash or to invest it in safe government bonds. This is only logical, because PayPal has to keep enough on hand for when customers withdraw their money. This is not relevant for Starbucks, as they do not pay out their customers in cash, but in coffee. This allows Starbucks to invest customer money in high return projects or use it to expand the business. The Starbucks account is an attractive way to raise capital, as Starbucks normally pays between 0.46% and 4.5% on their own bonds. “This is irrelevant to Starbucks as they do not pay out their customers in cash, but in coffee” There is also the concept of “breakage”. These are amounts that customers have in their Starbucks accounts but have forgotten about and Starbucks estimates that they will not use. This amount is added to profits. In 2021, this amounted to $164.5 million, about 10% of the total amount deposited by customers at Starbucks. The Future Currently, you can use the card in the United States and Canada, just two of the countries in which Starbucks operates. In the US, the app accounts for 40% of sales and in 2019 Starbucks has indicated that it wants to make the digital savings card more attractive. Understandable, because the growth potential is enormous. By expanding the savings programme to multiple countries and making it even more attractive for customers to put money on the card, the profit from breakage can become much greater. Good news for Starbucks, but also for the regular visitor. The free drinks, cakes or merchandise that customers receive after a number of transactions are a kind of interest on their credit. Compared to the interest on savings at a regular bank, that’s not crazy at all. Literature: https://medium.com/e-cell-vit/how-starbucks-is-also-a-bank-80e8b65cf1d4 https://jpkoning.blogspot.com/2019/08/starbucks-monetary-superpower.html https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2016/08/01/starbucks-holds-more-cash-than-many-banks-infographic/?sh=1662fce9231a https://investor.starbucks.com/press-releases/financial-releases/press-release-details/2021/Starbucks-Reports-Record-Q4-and-Full-Year-Fiscal-2021-Results/default.aspx https://www.emerce.nl/cases/starbucks-versterkt-focus-loyaltyprogramma
Investing for dummies
For the Dutch version, click here Disclaimer: The article below provides information and advice on investing. The article is carefully and accurately written, however, we cannot fully guarantee the completeness and accuracy of the information. The advice given cannot be considered as binding and it should be taken into account that any form of investing involves risks. Investing has often been seen in the news, on TV or on social media in recent years. For most people, investing is no longer an unknown concept and the corona crisis has also contributed to the trend that more and more people have started investing. Because investing is a topic of conversation on a birthday it seems that everyone is investing. But how can you actually start investing? What are the different ways to invest? And what is a broker? This article will answer these questions! In addition, we will discuss the things you should take into account before you decide to start investing and what the biggest pitfalls are once you have started. A first point to consider is the idea that you can get rich quick with investing. You should not assume that you can earn a substantial amount of money within a few months by investing. Investing is really for the long term. It is important that, if you want to make a good return, the amount you have invested is not available for decades. To cope with occasional expenses and to be able to receive a mortgage, it is wise not to immediately deposit your entire savings account in an investment account. A second point of attention is that you should think carefully about whether you want to invest entirely yourself, or whether you want to manage your investments through a bank. The advantage of managed investing is that you do not have to pay much attention to it yourself. Especially those who do not feel confident enough to start investing themselves will benefit from it. Reasons for managed investing can be a lack of knowledge and time. The disadvantage is that you have to pay a fee to the bank that manages the investment account for you. The next point to take into account if you want to invest yourself is that it is important that you acquire sufficient information and knowledge before you actually start. With this you are already working on your own investment strategy and you would also recognize your own pitfalls sooner. Reading this article is already a good first step! Finally, it is also important to know about taxes. In the Netherlands, you pay wealth tax on your fictitious assets. In 2021 a return of 5.69% on savings and investments applies. The first 50,000 euros are tax-free (1). On the benefit above the tax-free capital 31% income tax is levied (2). If you would like more information on tax, please refer to this article by Faces! Once you have decided to start investing you can, in addition to managed investing at a bank, also start investing yourself. This can be done at brokers like Binq, eToro and DEGIRO. The advantage is that it is cheaper than at a bank. To create an account you often have to transfer a penny to the broker to verify that your bank account is approved. You also have to upload your ID. At DEGIRO, one of the best-known brokers in the Netherlands, you get to choose whether you want to create a standard profile or a Custody profile. With a Custody profile you have less risk, but you pay higher costs and have fewer options. This is because with a Custody account, your investments, such as shares and ETFs, are not lent out to enable transactions in leveraged products, such as futures and options. So you do not run the lending risk, but at the same time DEGIRO cannot profit from lending and therefore charges higher costs with a Custody account. Furthermore, you cannot invest in futures and options yourself, which means that a Custody account often generates less return than a basic account (3). Above you will see a number of terms such as futures and options recurring. As a beginning investor it is important not to start with these until you have gained enough knowledge about them. “Furthermore, investing is not easy. Is something too good to be true? Then it often is.” You already encountered the term “ETF” in the previous paragraph. An ETF is an investment vehicle that tracks an index, such as the S&P 500 and the AIX. An ETF basically contains shares of an index in an identical ratio. The advantage of investing in an ETF is that you invest equally in many different stocks. So you can spread out in shares and over time and you’re also not in one category of companies in the same sector. Examples of ETFs are the MSCI World and VanGuard All World. There are often essential differences in the composition of the various ETFs, such as which countries and which industries the ETFs cover. Before you invest, it is important to thoroughly familiarize yourself with which ETFs there are and which ones you would like to invest in. Furthermore, it is possible that you come across terms on the website of a broker of which you have no idea what they mean and what you can do with them. For example, you have the ask price, which indicates at what price an investor wants to sell his stock, and the bid price, which indicates what people are willing to pay for the stock. As a novice investor, it is wise to go through all the terms before investing in a stock that is disadvantageous. In addition, there are also different types of investment strategies that you should know about before you start. For example, you have day trading, where you can get in and out of a stock quickly based on current news. This is often done by large companies. As an individual
A board year as Vice-Chairman of Asset | Accounting & Finance – Joep Groenen
For the Dutch version, click here Who am I? I am Joep Groenen, 21 years old and living for 21 years in the beautiful city of Tilburg. Since November 2020 I have moved into my room and I like it. Currently, I am in year three of the bachelor Business Economics. This means that in February I will start with the last three courses and my thesis. After finishing my bachelor’s I would like to do a master’s in finance or accountancy, but I am not sure yet which of the two I prefer. Before my board year, I was still convinced about an accountancy master, but since I started, I have become more interested in finance. Luckily I still have some time to figure it out! Within A&F, I started with the Activities Committee, after which I joined the Accounting Expedition Committee, just like my buddy Myron. After this fun committee, I decided to become a board member. Why did I decide to do a year on the board? If I’m honest, I hesitated for a long time to become a board member. Of course, it is important to consider your choice carefully. I have talked to many people, but also looked at myself and what I wanted. What finally convinced me were a few things. First, I wanted to study for at least one more year. I didn’t see myself working at the age of 22 and I wanted to fill in an extra year in a way that would help me now, but especially in the future. I also noticed that I was ready for a break from study life. Secondly, I wanted to develop myself. I noticed that I tended to develop myself not only in the educational field. I especially liked the development in planning and prioritization. I also wanted to develop myself socially, in a board year you work very closely in a team and you deal with many different people. Because of this, you learn to deal with everyone. This is also the reason why I initially started doing a committee at A&F. I wanted to distinguish myself. There are plenty of people who want to do a master’s in Accountancy or Finance, but how can I make sure that I stand out? With a year board year, this works pretty well! Besides making your CV stand out, you also learn an incredible amount that you would never learn at university. You learn various soft skills, such as keeping a diary. Before my board year, I never used an agenda, but now I can’t live without one. As a result, my days are much more organized and I know better what my priorities are. Of course, a board year is also great fun. You have a lot of drinks with other board members and you work at the rooms every day, where a DoMiBo is not missing! How do I feel about starting in winter? At first, starting in the winter scared me a bit, because of course mid-academic year I’m taking a sort of gap year, while of course, I don’t have a degree yet. In the end, this is not so bad. Through my conversations with Martine, who chose the same time, I learned that it could be an advantage. When I enter semester two of year three, I still have half a year to settle into my study life. In general, the load of a bachelor is quieter than a master. So I won’t start my master’s until I have completely picked up the study rhythm again. Furthermore, I still have that half year of bachelor’s to think carefully about the choice of my master! What does a Vice-Chairman do at all? The question is if I perform anything at all in a day I get mostly from friends and family. The answer is yes, I definitely perform something every day and no, it’s not just breaking out and lying on the couches! As Vice-Chairman, I am responsible for several fixed things. For example, I am the sparring partner of the president. This was first Richard and now Lotte. With Lotte, I have a weekly Vice/Vo meeting to talk about the various issues within A&F and Asset Tilburg. Furthermore, we always go through the General Board agenda together and see what our opinions are on the various topics. I will also take over several tasks from the chairman when he/she is absent. “The contact with so many different students is not only fun but also very educational. “ I also have my tasks, of course. For example, I am responsible for the internal policies of A&F. This includes filling the committees in the winter and the summer and being responsible for not only active but also passive members. I arrange study support in the form of guidelines, CoEE, and various training sessions. However, since last winter I share these tasks with the Education Committee. Furthermore, I organize the introduction activities for the master Accountancy and Finance, twice a year the board training and the Audit Activity together with our secretary Renate. Finally, within A&F I also make sure the website is up to date. I do this by uploading events, news, and pages. Personally, I enjoy doing this. Within Asset Tilburg I also have enough tasks. I am in three Asset organs: the Public Relations meeting, the Webmaster meeting, and the BE cluster. The Public Relations meeting is a weekly meeting with the Vice-Chairman of each department. Together we organize all informal events from Asset Tilburg. Think about the Welcome back party or the Grand Opening of the Asset Cafe. I have also helped to paint the walls of the Asset Cafe. Together we are responsible for Asset during the TOP week. For example, I have personally managed the Asset TOP party and the Asset TOP mentorship. I am the Vice of the PR meeting, which means I have to take over the meetings in the absence of Shaye
Interview with Patrick van Zwieten – Ambassador for the NBA
For the Dutch version, click here Patrick van Zwieten is Senior Accountant at BDO and also an ambassador for the NBA. In this interview he talks about his experiences in the accountancy profession, the importance of the NBA and gives his vision on the future within Accountancy. Can you tell us something about yourself? My name is Patrick van Zwieten and I have been working in the field of Accountancy for four and a half years now. I have a higher vocational education background, after which I followed the part-time master’s program at the University of Amsterdam. Within BDO, I work in the Audit & Assurance department where I primarily serve clients in the corperate segment. Why did you choose Accountancy? I found this a very difficult choice at first. I initially worked at ABN AMRO in the investment department for a while. This was more finance-related and that’s why I actually wanted to do a master’s in finance. I then decided to look around for more information by, among other things, taking part in various trial days at accountancy firms. I discovered that I didn’t really know what accountancy entailed and after the trial days I realized that I had a completely different idea of what accountancy actually entailed. The profession requires analytical skills, but also social skills and you have to be able to deal with deadlines. After this, I finally made the choice to go in this direction. What are the biggest differences between Finance and Accountancy? If I compare it to the RA audit practice in Accountancy, we have a project every five to six weeks and we visit the client. This concerns the audit of the financial statements and we speak to all layers of employees within the organization. This makes it very diverse and fun, something that is less applicable in Finance. In addition, you see many different companies, for example, last week I was at the office of a pharmaceutical company and next week I will visit a large clothing retailer. What does an average accountant’s work week look like? Actually, every week is different. It also varies a lot what function you have within the office. If you are just starting out, then you will often be working on an executive level. After a year or two or three, you often get more responsibility and start supporting and guiding starters. The longer you work in the company, the more you are allowed to lead the smaller teams and act as manager, while with the larger clients you still mainly have the executive task. This ensures a good balance. Besides the ‘standard’ work at BDO, we sometimes have a padel tournament with the office. This ensures that we can also meet up outside of work hours and build up a good relationship with colleagues. In addition, we are actually at the client’s office every working day. The audit consists of two parts: the interim part and the year-end part. During the interim part, we visit the client to gain knowledge of the client and the company’s process in order to analyze risks, but also to find points of departure for our audit. In the second year, which often starts around January, we really look at the figures. Using various techniques, we then check whether the annual accounts are actually correct. How has combining work and study worked out for you? In the beginning I found it quite hard. I started working full-time and also had a part-time master’s degree to complete. Especially in the first year I was searching for the right planning. I noticed that over time I could find my feet and things went better. This was also because everyone around me was going through the same process, both my colleagues and my fellow students. The office also helped me a lot, we get an extra day off before exams and we can ask for help if we find a course difficult. What are the opportunities after getting your master’s in accountancy? I think there are many possibilities once you have your degree. In the path of RA, you could grow within the office to partner, but in addition you also see that someone with an RA title is popular in the business, you are then Accountant in Business (AIB). This is for example in large companies to work in the finance department. Another possibility is to become CEO or CFO. So outside of the accountancy field, it offers a huge amount of opportunities in the job market. Can you tell us a little bit about NBA? The NBA is the Dutch Professional Organization of Accountants. There are over 22,000 registered accountants in the Netherlands today. These are both Chartered Accountants (RA) and Accounting Consultants (AA). They are all listed in the NBA register. This organization promotes the professional practice of accountants. They do this by drawing up rules of conduct, testing the knowledge of accountants and providing education. At the end of the practical training, there is a final exam that tests whether you are capable of acting as a starting professional practitioner. However, before that happens, you must first complete your theoretical training as a Chartered Accountant before you can complete the practical training as a Chartered Accountant. What is the role of the NBA within the field of Accountancy? The NBA plays a big role. On the one hand, it is the NBA’s job to monitor us and check whether the firms are meeting the quality requirements. But in addition to that, the NBA is in talks with the Ministry to draw up an accountant protocol. The offices will then be presented with guidelines with which they can check whether, for example, last year’s NOW scheme was rightly obtained. What does the NBA ambassadorship entail? There is a fair amount of shortage on the labor market within Accountancy and through the NBA ambassadorship they want to try and give a better insight into the profession of accountant
