Overzicht columns

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.

Edward Roozenburg: Business continuity is more than just IT

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 10:27:06 +0200

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

By Edward Roozenburg, Senior Risk Management Consultant, Probability & Partners

When a cyber incident occurs, the first questions directors often ask are: ‘Is everything still working? Can customers log in? Can payments go through? Are the core applications available?’ These are logical questions. But they are not enough.

Bert Leffers & Hayo Heerink: Cryptocurrencies, the tulip bulb and the story

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 11:49:57 +0200

^{Deze column is oorspronkelijk geschreven in het Nederlands. Dit is een Engelse vertaling.}

Can the tulip mania of the seventeenth century be compared to today’s crypto hype? Or is this one of those moments when financial history, whilst not repeating itself, does rhyme?

By Bert Leffers, independent investment consultant, and Hayo Heerink, former investment strategist at pension funds

Han Dieperink: Oil heading for $50

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 08:02:53 +0200

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

By Han Dieperink, written in a personal capacity

The price of oil is at its lowest level in three months. Brent crude is just under $80 a barrel and WTI crude is slightly below that. It looks like a breather, but in reality this is part of a long-term trend.

Harry Geels: Government and business are becoming more entangled

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 09:33:11 +0200

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

By Harry Geels

The era of completely free markets is long gone. Over the last two decades, Western governments have built up increasingly significant stakes in companies. This has important implications for investors.

Rik Albrecht: Why concentration is not an investment mistake

Fri, 19 Jun 2026 06:02:44 +0200

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

The dominance of US big tech in the MSCI World Index triggers one instinct: to avoid it. That is understandable, but those who try to avoid concentration often end up taking the greatest investment risk.

By Rik Albrecht, CFA, director and chair of the investment committee at various pension funds and investment manager at Roccade.

Harry Geels: The SpaceX IPO presents five litmus tests at once

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 12:28:06 +0200

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

By Harry Geels

Last week, SpaceX went public in what was the biggest IPO of all time. This rightly attracted a great deal of attention and sparked controversy. However, if one looks beyond the surface, it becomes clear that this IPO challenges and tests the market and society in five ways at once.

Dick Kamp: The Wtp makes the board accountable for the system

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 09:46:11 +0200

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

In my previous column, I wrote that the Wtp entails a new role for the board. What does this shift mean in practical terms for risk management, governance and supervision?

By Dick Kamp, Director of Pensions, Investment and Risk, Milliman Pensions

Gerd-Jan van Wiggen: SpaceX IPO, where did I see this before?

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 10:36:42 +0200

By Gerd-Jan van Wiggen, Partner at Probability & Partners

Last Friday, when I was following the SpaceX listing, my mind wandered off to the late 1990s, when I was looking to invest in the now infamous Lernout & Hauspie.

Han Dieperink: The best time to get on board

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 06:01:56 +0200

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

From a rational point of view, the best time to invest is always today. Staying in the market beats trying to time the market. But investors are, after all, not rational beings.

By Han Dieperink, written in a personal capacity

Harry Geels: Piketty’s five fallacies

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 12:16:52 +0200

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

By Harry Geels

In his recent report, Thomas Piketty once again sets out an ambitious worldview. Climate change, inequality and economic structure are brought together in a single, overarching project. However, his solutions contain five systematic fallacies.

Danny Dieleman: The invaluable value of a reliable valuation

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 09:58:44 +0200

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

By Danny Dieleman, Wholesale Banking Director, Capital Treasury, ING

Private debt is playing an increasingly significant role in institutional portfolios, but its valuation is often less transparent than that of listed investments. How do you determine what a private loan is actually worth?

Han Dieperink: Why a hawk like Warsh is cutting interest rates

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 10:03:13 +0200

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

By Han Dieperink, written in a personal capacity

Kevin Warsh has been sworn in as the seventeenth Chair of the Federal Reserve. But anyone who interprets his appointment as a victory for looser monetary policy has not been listening carefully. He stands for the exact opposite.

CFA Society Netherlands: Wanted, sparring partner for Gen Z investors

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 06:04:36 +0200

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

Information is available everywhere and at all times. How should people filter information in order to make investment decisions? A recent survey by the CFA Institute shows that there is a clear generational difference in the way investment decisions are made. With the impending transfer of wealth to younger generations over the next 25 years, we must therefore start responding now to clients’ changing information needs.

By Anne-Marie Munnik, Director, CFA Society Netherlands

Probability & Partners: The EU AI Act is here, what’s next?

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:22:04 +0200

By Yusi Wang, Senior Risk Consultant at Probability & Partners

Where do regulators and supervisors currently stand on AI? Are they ahead of the curve, or are they still catching up?

Harry Geels: Greece, from debt crisis to market darling

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:24:04 +0200

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

By Harry Geels

The country that, a decade ago, was synonymous with mismanagement, debt restructuring and political chaos is once again being embraced by investors. There are broadly four reasons to take a more positive view of Greece. Taken together, they provide an excellent case study for both economists and investors.

EDHEC: Can climate equity investors cope with oil price volatility?

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 08:03:53 +0200

By Shahyar Safaee, Deputy CEO and Head of Business Development, Scientific Portfolio – an EDHEC Venture

Oil price volatility is back. But how vulnerable are climate equity investors this time around? In 2022, after the onset of the war in Ukraine, Paris Aligned Benchmarks (PAB) markedly underperformed market cap-weighted indices. This was largely driven by short risk bias in the energy sector. Now, with record levels of implied volatility in the oil futures market, will climate equity strategies demonstrate greater resilience?

Bob Homan: China is benefiting from the new energy order

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 08:27:04 +0200

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

By Bob Homan, Head of ING Investment Office

Every energy crisis creates winners and losers. In the 1970s, it was Japan that adapted rapidly to a world of expensive energy. In the current energy crisis, China appears to hold the right cards.

IVBN: Sustainability, between ambition and reality

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 10:01:15 +0200

Making homes more sustainable is widely supported, but in practice progress is not picking up fast enough. The ambitions are high, but implementation is complex. This tension affects investment, affordability and the pace of the energy transition in the Netherlands.

By Judith Norbart, Director, IVBN

Pim Rank: Strict rules for loan purchasers and loan servicers

Fri, 29 May 2026 09:03:16 +0200

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

On 18 July 2025, the Act Implementing the Directive on Credit Servicers and Credit Purchasers came into force. This Act provides a regulatory framework for the transfer and management of non-performing loans granted by banks (and the rights arising therefrom).

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

Han Dieperink: Greedflation 2.0

Tue, 26 May 2026 06:04:39 +0200

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

By Han Dieperink, written in a personal capacity

More than two years ago, greedflation was seen as a temporary phenomenon. The reasoning was straightforward: once inflation normalised, the cover under which companies could raise prices excessively would disappear. In an environment of 2% inflation, any company implementing 10% price increases on its own would lose market share. This market discipline was expected to put an end to greedflation. That may be true, but the story appears to have taken a new turn.