'The financial world is remarkable as it is always evolving. That’s what excites me, it’s never dull!'
“I’ve always had an affinity with mathematics and economy, so at the time I graduated from high school, I was looking for a Bachelor’s that combined these two. I was looking for something in Business Administration, but I missed the underlying mathematics. I came across the Bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering & Management at the University of Twente and thought it might be the right fit for me.
It turned out to be true! I was really enthusiastic, so it made sense to follow up my Bachelor’s with the Master’s in Industrial Engineering & Management. I chose to extend my knowledge within the financial sector with the specialisation in Financial Engineering & Management. During my Bachelor’s, I already got acquainted with this field: investments, stocks, risk management and especially the underlying mathematics. That’s when I developed my interest in finances.
Always evolving
I think the financial world is remarkable as it is always evolving. There are many laws and regulations that banks and other financial institutions must comply with and these are always changing and becoming more complicated as well. That’s what excites me, it’s never dull!
Within my specialisation, I developed a special interest in financial risk management. That’s also what my Master’s thesis is about. I’m basically modelling savings and by doing that, I’m developing a risk framework for banks. The thing about savings is: a bank can never tell with certainty how much savings they have on their balance sheets. Customers can always withdraw money, for example when they lose faith in their bank. This uncertainty about cash in- and outflow makes it difficult for a bank to invest. By building a mathematical model I’m trying to map the core and non-core savings, or in other words: the stable and the fluctuating percentage.
Something that I really learnt during my Master’s, is that you can build a thousand different mathematical models, it will never be a hundred per cent accurate. You always have to keep that in mind. You can’t predict the future. If I could, then I’d be rich! It’s about finding ways to map the risks as accurately as possible. And in an ever-changing world such as the world of finances, that is a real challenge. That’s what I like so much, it wouldn’t be fun if it’d be simple!
Consultancy
After my Master’s, I would like to work in consultancy. I already got a taste of this field, because I’m executing my Master’s assignment at the financial risk management team of KPMG. What I love about consultancy is that you’re always dealing with different projects. This way, you get acquainted with various subjects and expand your knowledge. On the other hand, working at a financial institution and dealing with one specific subject and specialising that way, also sounds like a good option.
As you can see, there are a lot of possibilities, so we’ll see what my career will look like! One thing that I’m sure of, is that I will continue learning. Because I realised, while writing my thesis, that not only did I learn a lot during my Master’s, there is still so much more to learn as well.”