When I was 15 years old (the year 2000), I became interested in the stock market and made my first investment. It was an investment fund with high-yield bonds. According to the bank (ABN AMRO) the safe option where you would get a better return than your savings account. In the fantastically rising market, my risk appetite increased. In addition to shares, I also bought more exotic products such as (day) options and (reverse) convertibles. Soon I learned my first valuable lesson when the Dotcom bubble burst. Relatively speaking, I was still a student, I lost a lot of money. This wave of emotive euphoria when things go well and emotional pain when it falls sharply was a good learning experience.
I followed my interest with the master's degree in Financial Economics at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. At the investment study association B&R Beurs I was involved in the establishment of the investment academy, where I also gave some lectures about investing, the risks and various instruments. On investor day 2010 I gave an interview for RTL Z (Dutch national television).
During my master's I specialized in the stock markets, where we learned to apply different investment strategies. I wrote my thesis in Mexico at the Dutch embassy. Here I participated in various events, including taking part in an international debate at UNAM University about the credit crisis.
After my studies I moved to Ecuador, where I worked as a lecturer in Financial Economics and English at the university. Later I accepted a position as a financial manager at a travel company in the capital Quito, before returning to the Netherlands.
When I returned, I quickly found a job with an asset manager with a long-term focus, Value Investing. This looks at the value of a company based on the balance sheet compared to the stock market value. My duties included analysing companies and talking to management to decide whether to invest in their stocks or bonds.
During this new period in the Netherlands I also gained experience with the purchase of real estate and supervision of the renovation of 2 apartments that I now successfully rent out independently. I can therefore advise you from my own experience.
Because of my experience abroad, I am fluent in Dutch, English, Spanish and German. So feel free to contact me in any of these languages.