Name: Robin Zijsling
Track: Investments
Studied: Finance: Asset Management
Trainee year: 2020
A diary of my first week
Introduction week
The traineeship got kicked off with a week-long introduction program. During this week, I met my fellow trainees, a group of 17 ambitious young talents. I felt that there was a good click with all of them right away! The week consisted of a varied program with NN management presentations, several cases, lunches/dinners, and a sports day. All in all, it was a very successful week in which I learned a lot about the organization’s ins and outs and got connected with my fellow trainees.
Get down to business
After the exciting week, it was time to get to work. I started my first six-month assignment at the Alternative Credit department of NN investment partners. Even though most people were still working from home because of the pandemic, my manager arranged that my team could work from the office on my first working day. I was happy about that because I met my colleagues in real life and got an impression of the office. Overall I would say I got a warm welcome, and I felt at ease right away. During the first weeks, I had the opportunity to schedule digital coffees to meet my colleagues and familiarize myself with Alternative Credit.
Alternative Credit & my assignment
At first, I did not know what to expect as the Alternative Credit asset class was relatively new to me, but I got enthusiastic quickly as I learned more about it. Simply put, Alternative Credit investments are unlisted debt instruments. There are five different strategies within the department, each with their specialized teams (Commercial Real Estate, Infrastructure debt, Residential Mortgages, Corporate Debt, Structured Private debt).
My role is to coordinate a project focused on Responsible Investing, or, more specifically, the integration of ESG (Environment, Social & Governance) within the different strategies. The topic of Responsible Investing has become increasingly important over the years and is very relevant. Therefore, I think it is valuable to learn about it at an early stage in my career. Moreover, I like my assignment a lot because I speak to many stakeholders of the project and get many responsibilities. In short, I am looking forward to the exciting time ahead of me!
For questions or a chat, you can reach me on: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-zijsling/ orr.zijsling@nnip.com.
