If you are looking for a challenge and take a great interest in investments and asset management, as an Investments trainee, you will discover all there is to know about the NN Investment Partners business unit. You will also learn about responsible investment in different asset classes. Thomas Sandberg shares his experience as trainee at the Investments Track
Name: Thomas Sandbergen
Track: Investments
Studied: Economics and Business, Financial Economics
Trainee year: 2019
Why did I apply as trainee at the Investments Track?
My first touchpoint with NN as an employer was during an inhouseday back in March 2019. In my opinion, these days are the best opportunity to get to know a firm, its culture, the people and, of course, the ins and outs of the traineeship. This inhouse day triggered me to apply for the traineeship for several reasons. But why the Investments track?
After my bachelor Economics and Business Economics at Utrecht University, I gained my first working experience related to investments at the FMO (the Dutch Development Bank). This working experience was in line with both my studies and with my personal preferences, as the FMO was contributing to environmental and societal impact. When I started my Master’s degree (Financial Economics @ Erasmus University Rotterdam), it was already clear to me I would end up somewhere in the financial sector – but where exactly? I only knew that something similar to my earlier working experience would be nice.
NN Group Investments track
The Investments track gives you the opportunity to work in the front office of NN’s asset management company (NN Investment Partners, NN IP), work on assignments that enhance the investment decisions and processes, or even decide how the capital will be allocated. As you can imagine, that is definitely in line with my studies. NN IP’s ambition to be a leader in responsible investing was (and still is!) in line with my preferences.
At this moment, a potential new investment product could be the outcome of my work. This is a great responsibility as it could generate income for NN, while putting our client’s money to work in a responsible way and enabling a positive impact on SMEs through that product. I did not expect something like this two years ago, when I was still studying. It really feels like an honour to have their trust in this project.
The first impression of NN Group on the inhouseday
I would say the people of NN in this field are both competitive and result-driven, but humble. I saw at the inhouseday that they were ambitious and at the same time always eager to help. Now that I work at NN I see that they were a great ambassador for how people are valued here in the company.
Besides, I got a good impression of the organisation, learned about the core values, discovered what I could be doing during the traineeship and, lastly, I met nice people I can now call my colleagues. To me, everything about the company felt right, which led to my application for the Investments track of the traineeship at NN Group. As we speak, I am a year and a half on the job and I must say: I got a very truthful view back then!
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at thomas.sandbergen@nnip.com. It really helped me during my orientation/application phase to get in touch with current trainees!
Are you still not sure whether you should do a traineeship? Read here the 6 benefits of a Traineeship.
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