Overzicht columns

Harry Geels: Many conventional wisdoms about housing do not always hold true

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 08:32:26 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Harry Geels

‘Renting is unwise.’ ‘Owning your own home is the best investment.’ ‘House prices always rise.’ ‘As you get older, you downsize.’ Very little of the familiar clichés about housing is actually true. But why, then, do they persist so stubbornly?

Han Dieperink: Emerging markets call for selectivity

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 08:28:19 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Han Dieperink, written in a personal capacity

For the first time in years, emerging markets have been outperforming the developed world since 2025. This followed a long period of underperformance. Growth in China slowed, commodities were cheap, and large amounts of investment capital flowed into the United States.

Felix Zwart: Investing without control over the destination

Tue, 18 Aug 2026 09:13:36 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Felix Zwart, Director of Research at the Dutch Association of Private Equity Firms (NVP)

Private equity requires patience, but social norms are changing rapidly. As an investor, how do you maintain control over funds that were set up in a world that no longer exists?

Joeri de Wilde: Europe doesn’t need a Silicon Valley

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 08:01:48 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

Europe’s obsession with US productivity figures is leading us down the wrong path. Europe should not try to imitate the US, but should learn to make better use of its own strengths.

By Joeri de Wilde, Senior Economist at Triodos Investment Management

Harry Geels: Views of financial economists are missing from the inequality debate

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 09:57:07 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Harry Geels

The public debate on inequality and taxation is heavily dominated by a macroeconomic way of thinking, whilst insights from financial economics are conspicuously absent. Among other things, the ‘risk premium’ is conspicuously absent from the debate.

Harry Geels: The paradox of the degrowth banker

Wed, 05 Aug 2026 08:32:57 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

Commercial banks rely heavily on lending for their profitability. Degrowth, on the other hand, calls into question the need for continuous economic growth. Can the world of degrowth really be reconciled with the banking system?

By Harry Geels

Han Dieperink: The returns of cheap AI

Wed, 05 Aug 2026 08:30:56 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Han Dieperink, written in a personal capacity

When the Chinese AI model Kimi K3 was released in mid-July, semiconductor stocks reacted as they increasingly have in recent months: they fell. The logic was straightforward: if artificial intelligence becomes ever cheaper, less computing power will be required, and therefore fewer chips will be needed. Yet that conclusion is mistaken.

EDHEC: Evergreen, the tree that never sheds

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 09:21:16 +0200

By Evan Clark, Senior Private Market Analyst, EDHEC Infrastructure & Private Assets Research Institute

Evergreen private equity funds have grown rapidly in recent years, targeting wealth, retail, and increasingly, defined contribution (DC) pension plans. These vehicles promise access, convenience, and periodic liquidity, but closer analysis reveals structural features that pose material risks for investors.

Gerd-Jan Wiggen & Laurent Claassen: Building resilience to geopolitical risks

Wed, 29 Jul 2026 08:21:24 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Gerd-Jan van Wiggen, Partner at Probability & Partners, and Laurent Claassen, Senior Advisor to Boards & Executives | Lecturer & Speaker

The world order is in flux. US dominance is being challenged by China, and President Trump’s second term is creating further uncertainties in the areas of international trade, economic stability and geopolitical alliances.

Dick Kamp & Bjorn Blom: Data quality as a foundation of reputation

Wed, 29 Jul 2026 08:12:55 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Dick Kamp, Director of Pension Investment & Risk, and Bjorn Blom, Data Scientist, both at Milliman

With the introduction of the Future Pensions Act (Wtp), accurate data is more important than ever. Continuous monitoring and smart AI checks help pension funds maintain members’ trust.

Harry Geels: Three advantages of owning your own home

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 16:07:43 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Harry Geels

In discussions about taxation, there is often talk of ‘windfalls’ from home ownership – in other words, price rises that come for free. This claim is incorrect, but homeowners do enjoy a number of significant tax and institutional advantages.

Han Dieperink: The Rotation Correction

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 08:53:31 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Han Dieperink, written in a personal capacity

Following the strong rally in IT stocks, investors are now looking for opportunities in other sectors. Industrials, financials and even utilities are benefiting from this shift. Some interpret this rotation as the beginning of the end for technology, but that is a misconception. At the same time, sceptics have introduced a new argument: it is not stock prices that are in a bubble, but corporate earnings themselves. This so-called "earnings bubble" deserves a critical examination.

Harry Geels: The Homeownership Windfall: Myth or Reality?

Wed, 29 Jul 2026 08:21:12 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Harry Geels

The core problem in these debates about additional taxes—whether inheritance taxes or windfall taxes—is that they often fail to present an accurate picture of the actual profit made on a house. This is a significant omission. When those gains are calculated in full, they often turn out to be considerably smaller than is commonly suggested.

Ortec Finance: The evolution of insurance asset portfolio optimization

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 08:13:37 +0200

By Ashish Doshi, Head of UK Insurance at Ortec Finance

How machine learning is transforming investment strategies for insurance asset managers

Han Dieperink: The Rotation Correction

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 08:14:38 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Han Dieperink, written in a personal capacity

AF Advisors: Be aware - Not Investing Comes with Risks!

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 08:01:46 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Teun van Kampen, Consultant, Legal & Regulatory Solutions at AF Advisors

Perhaps this common-sense wisdom applies to a large share of Dutch households that do not invest. In fact, a significant number of them may be exposing themselves to risk precisely by not investing. This presents a major opportunity for the sector—provided it can effectively meet the needs of this target group.

Harry Geels: Inheritance tax is a tax on future prosperity

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 10:16:45 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Harry Geels

Supporters of higher inheritance taxes argue that an inheritance represents a form of new income for the beneficiary and should therefore be taxed heavily, just like earned income. Opponents point out that the assets have often already been taxed before and refer to this as double taxation. However, there is a third, less frequently heard perspective: that of classical economics.

AI and the Dunning–Kruger Effect

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 09:52:02 +0200

^{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Bob Homan, Head of ING Investment Office

I recently read about the Dunning–Kruger effect, and I recognized it immediately. This effect refers to the tendency of people with limited knowledge to underestimate the complexity of experts' work. I sometimes catch myself doing this, and perhaps you recognize it as well.

Pim Rank: The European banking sector must become more competitive

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 12:09:02 +0200

^{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation}

On 17 April 2026, the Netherlands submitted its response to the European Commission’s consultation on the competitiveness of the European banking sector. The response calls for the strengthening of the internal market and the simplification of the regulatory framework.

By Prof. Mr Pim Rank, Solicitor at NautaDutilh in Amsterdam and Professor of Financial Law at Leiden University

Harry Geels: Trump not a classic capitalist but an economic nationalist

Wed, 08 Jul 2026 06:01:57 +0200

^{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Harry Geels

Recent remarks by Trump (during his 4th of July speech) and Vance (in an interview with The Daily Wire) point more towards conservative-Christian, or even mercantilist, politics than towards liberal-capitalist views. Once again, it is clear that the traditional left-right framework is intellectually impoverished and unnecessarily polarising.

Frans Verhaar: Don't let the managers decide what is 'in line with the market'

Tue, 07 Jul 2026 08:02:08 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Frans Verhaar, Managing Director, Head of Continental Europe at bfinance

It is early July. In some parts of the Netherlands, people are already haggling over a carpet or a leather bag at a market abroad, whilst stallholders call out to them, ‘Only look, no buy’. There, everyone understands that the asking price isn’t necessarily the actual price.

Han Dieperink: The premature funeral of the dollar

Tue, 07 Jul 2026 06:04:47 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Han Dieperink, written in a personal capacity

Last Thursday, the surprising US employment figures were released. Less than an hour later, Société Générale had already published a report. The message: the dollar’s heyday is over. The euro rose immediately by 0.7 per cent. And once again, the familiar narrative was heard. The dollar is falling out of favour and the world is slowly moving away from it. It’s a compelling narrative. But it hasn’t come to pass for well over ten years.

Maven 11: The institutional crypto revolution: no tulip mania

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 06:01:45 +0200

While the tulip mania analogy holds true for the speculative retail fringes of crypto, fixating on this noisy periphery blinds observers to the profound institutional infrastructure and innovation scaling at its core.

By Victor van Eijk, Director Global Business Development, Maven 11

Harry Geels: DNB approves its own inequality policy

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 09:05:43 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Harry Geels

It is often claimed that monetary policy exacerbates inequality. According to recent research by DNB, this assertion is incorrect. However, there are some points to be made regarding DNB’s view.

Joeri de Wilde: SpaceX is selling a future without planetary boundaries

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 10:21:24 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Joeri de Wilde, Senior Economist at Triodos Investment Management

Financial analyses show that SpaceX is grossly overvalued. Yet the prospect of being able to continue living in the same way remains an attractive prospect for many.