Author: Eduard Herkes

VU School of Business and Economics holds an open evening

The VU School of Business and Economics is holding an online open evening about its part-time programmes on Thursday 18 November 2021. Do you want to take the next step…


The VU School of Business and Economics is holding an online open evening about its part-time programmes on Thursday 18 November 2021.

Do you want to take the next step in your career, be retrained or keep up to date with the developments in your field?

VU School of Business and Economics Executive Education offers part-time programmes in the field of finance, accounting & control, audit & compliance, coaching, management & leadership, business analytics & it.

Anyone who wants to know more can attend an online open evening on Thursday 18 November. Programme directors, lecturers and staff will be happy to answer your questions about all these part-time studies, such as International Executive MBAs, part-time Master’s and postgraduate programmes. They will do so via a LIVE Zoom session. Together with you, they look at how you can develop yourself further.

There are three different rounds.

Between 18.00 and 18.45 hours, the following courses will be discussed:

Accountancy (RA) & Part-time MSc Accounting & Control
Management & Supervision in the semi-public sector
Certified Public Controller (CPC)
Compliance & Integrity Management (CIM)
Part-time MSc Business Administration
Treasury Management & Corporate Finance (RT)

Between 19.00 and 19.45 hrs:

Action Research for Change
Certified Management Accountant (CMA) (English session)
Controller training (EMFC/RC)
Digital Innovation & Transformation
Executive Master of M&A and Valuation
Geographical Information Sciences (GIS)
RBA Programme (Formerly known as Investment Management)
IT Audit, Compliance & Advisory (ITACA)
MBA in International Business
Part-time MSc in Marketing
Public Leadership
Risk Management For Financial Institutions

The third round will take place between 20.00 and 20.45 hrs:

Action Research meets Design Research
Business Analytics & Data Science
Certified Management Accountant (CMA)(Dutch session)
Data-driven management in the public sector
Executive MBA Leading with Purpose
Masterclass Digital Auditing Essentials
Next Generation CFO: Chief Value Officer
Organisational Behaviour Management (OBM)
Fundamentals of Treasury Management

Here you can register for one of the three information sessions.

 

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

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Festival ‘Muze van Zuid’ offers concerts and walks

This year, the Muze van Zuid music festival, which will take place on 17, 18 and 19 September 2021, will deploy more than a hundred musicians and singers to give…

This year, the Muze van Zuid music festival, which will take place on 17, 18 and 19 September 2021, will deploy more than a hundred musicians and singers to give concerts in Amsterdam-Zuid, in living rooms, parks, monuments and other special places.

In a hidden chapel, for example, soloists on cello and clarinet will shine and choral singing will resound in the historic Riding Hall of De Hollandsche Manege.

The programme of Muze van Zuid 2021 includes 24 different concerts by over 100 top musicians, 15 guided music walks or podcasts and four street safaris with amateur chamber music ensembles. Music by over 30 Dutch composers will be performed, including five world premieres. The festival offers many musical styles, from gamelan to string quartet and from brass band to piano, cello, lute and clarinet.

This time, special attention is paid to Surinamese composers from the South, such as Jan Victor Dahlberg. The Hindustani singer Madhu Lalbahadoersing will perform his work. Special attention is also being paid to Hungarian musicians who have given colour to Amsterdam’s musical life, such as Géza Frid, Oskar Back and Tibor de Machula.

For the first time, the festival also offers live music outside the Concertgebouw area, particularly in the Berlage neighbourhood and on the Stadionplein. Also new are the musical street safaris by Het Orkest Amsterdam and UvA orchestra J. Pzn Sweelinck.

Participating in the festival are cellist Lidy Blijdorp, singer Sterre Konijn, the Balkan Brothers, Neo-fanfare 9×13, the Nieuw Amsterdams Klarinet Kwartet, the Amstel Quartet, the Berlage Saxophone Quartet, the Aristos Quartet, violinists Joris van Rijn and Emi Resnick, La Sfera Armoniosa with Mike Fentross, clarinettist Anna voor de Wind, Ensemble Resilience and Ensemble Multifoon by Sinta Willur. This fourth edition, Consensus Vocalist is ‘choir in residence’.

Finally, pianists Koenraad Spijker, Maxime Snaterse and Lestari Scholtes will dig up rarely or never heard piano music from the archives, alongside top works by Debussy, Chopin and the Russian Aleksandr Skrjabin. The latter has in fact once stayed in the Van Breestraat.

Muze van Zuid is an initiative of two residents of Amsterdam-Zuid (South Amsterdam), who thought it would be great to play music by composers who have been immortalised on the street signs, such as Schuyt, Diepenbrock or Coenen. More information about the festival, for which ticket sales have started, can be found on www.muzevanzuid.nl.

 

Photo:

Amstel Kwartet by Govert de Roos

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ARTZUID 2021 includes seventy sculptures

No fewer than seventy sculptures can be seen on the five-kilometre sculpture route of ARTZUID 2021, which starts on Thursday 1 July. The sculpture route, which is free of charge,…

No fewer than seventy sculptures can be seen on the five-kilometre sculpture route of ARTZUID 2021, which starts on Thursday 1 July.

The sculpture route, which is free of charge, runs along Apollolaan and Minervalaan with offshoots to Museumplein, Churchilllaan, Stadionplein and the Zuidas.

There is an information pavilion at Minervalaan 1, where you can have a cup of coffee. You can also find all the information at www.artzuid.nl and download an app (ARTZUID), which allows you to follow an audio tour.

This year 55 artists are participating in the sculpture route, which is made possible by the tireless efforts of 100 neighbourhood volunteers. There are loans from home and abroad, there is a lot of new work to be seen and some artists made new sculptures especially for this sculpture route.

At the photograph:

Raquel van Haver: Untitled 2019

 

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Swedish car brand opens Experience Shop

An experience shop is how the young Swedish car brand Polestar calls its new showroom in the Van Baerlestraat 2-4, close to the Vondelpark. The Swedish electronic performance car brand…

An experience shop is how the young Swedish car brand Polestar calls its new showroom in the Van Baerlestraat 2-4, close to the Vondelpark.

The Swedish electronic performance car brand Polestar shows its models in a modern space. You can touch the models, the Polar 1 and Polar 2, and through interactive displays and virtual reality, learn more about a car that is characterised by Scandinavian simplicity and transparency. Demos are also available for a test drive.

‘We have made our cars as uncomplicated as possible,’ says Thomas Ingenlath, ceo of Polestar. ‘We also do this with our experience shops, which are more reminiscent of an art gallery than a traditional showroom.’

He explains that the Polestar staff who welcome interested parties to the Polar Spaces are not on commission and are not targeting targets, but rather want to convey their enthusiasm for everything that makes a Polestar unique.

Polestar is an independent Swedish car market, which was founded in 2017 by Volvo Cars and Geely Holding. The car brand now has branches in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Eindhoven and Leidschendam.

At the end of 2019, the car brand debuted in the Netherlands with the Polestar 1, which combines two electric motors with a powerful petrol engine. Three years later, the Polestar 2 followed, an all-electric performance ‘fastback’ with room for five people, an output of 408 hp, 660 NM of pulling power, four-wheel drive and a driving range of up to 470 kilometres. It is the first car in the world with an integrated Android infotainment system.

Polestar plans to introduce new versions of the Polestar 2 in the near future, making the car available to an even broader public. All Polestar branches can currently only be visited by appointment. You can find all the information on polestar.com.

 

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

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ARTZUID is in the starting blocks again

The ARTZUID 2021 sculpture route is already in the starting blocks and hopes to start on 15 May. ‘Imagine’ is this year’s theme and 50 artists are contributing sculptures to…

The ARTZUID 2021 sculpture route is already in the starting blocks and hopes to start on 15 May.

‘Imagine’ is this year’s theme and 50 artists are contributing sculptures to this outdoor exhibition, in which they can incorporate their ideas about themes such as equality, freedom, sustainability, animal welfare, nature conservation and poverty. The organisation promises a fresh, challenging exhibition of international top artists and talent from the Dutch academies. There is special attention for female artists and artists from migrant backgrounds.

The following artists are in any case involved: KAWS, Leiko Ikamura, Zhan Wang, Sokari Douglas Camp, Fernando Sánchez Castillo, Lin May Saeed, Nelson Carrilho, Marieke Bolhuis, Tal R, Jonathan Meese, Anne Wenzel, David Bade, Raquel van Haver, Tirzo Martha and Arno Quinze.

Unfortunately, since 1 January, Art Zuid has had to make do without structural subsidy from the municipality, although fortunately the Stadsdeel Zuid does support the foundation. In order to cover the costs and make the exhibition, which is free of charge, possible, the organising foundation calls on all citizens of Amsterdam to make a one-off donation. How to do so is explained below.

 

 

 

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

 

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Crossover wants to be a green mix of offices als social housing

It will certainly be striking, the new Crossover complex that “area developer” AM is going to build in the Zuidas. It should be a green and sustainable building for entrepreneurs…

It will certainly be striking, the new Crossover complex that “area developer” AM is going to build in the Zuidas. It should be a green and sustainable building for entrepreneurs and starters on the housing market.

The special feature of this complex, which is due to rise on the corner of the A10 Zuid exit and the Europaboulevard in spring 2023, is that offices will be combined with social housing. There will be room for sixty “first-time home buyers” and an equal number of status holders. These homes will be managed by De Key housing corporation.

This housing concept contributes to the ambition of De Key to make and keep Amsterdam accessible for young people with a small budget,” says Eelco Siersema, Director of Real Estate for De Key. ‘De Key is renting these homes with a lease for the period of five years in order to promote the flow.’

But the Crossover building will also include 12,000 square feet of office space, ten owner-occupied homes and a 250-square-foot plinth for hospitality and social-society spaces. At the bottom of the building there will be a parking garage with eighty spaces, with spaces also reserved for car sharing.

Crossover is intended to be a “dynamic and bold” building, designed by Team V Architecture. All the roofs and terraces have space for water storage and both the offices and the apartments have access to spacious, green terraces. BAM Wonen is building the complex.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

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Corum offers stable investments

Transparent, stable and no-nonsense, that is Corum in a nutshell, This French investment company, founded by Frédéric Puzin in 2011, offers various investment solutions in 16 countries. This geographical diversification…

Transparent, stable and no-nonsense, that is Corum in a nutshell, This French investment company, founded by Frédéric Puzin in 2011, offers various investment solutions in 16 countries. This geographical diversification guarantees a sound spreading of risk. “The risk spread contributes to a great extent to the stable return on investment of 6%, a target we’ve achieved during each of the past eight years,” says Edwin Lips, Head of Sales of Corum’s Dutch branch.

The Novotel at Schiphol Airport, FedEx European headquarters in Hoofddorp and two shopping malls in Zaandam and Delft – just a few examples of properties acquired by Corum in recent years. In total, Corum has invested over half a billion euros on the Dutch property market. Globally, their portfolio has a value of nearly four billion euros; currently, Corum focuses its investments mainly on the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Finland. However, there is serious interest from Canada and Australia, so Corum expects to realize further growth soon.

How would you characterize Corum?

An investment firm with experienced professionals and a large network. We are able to respond quickly to situations as we have all the necessary expertise in-house: fundraising, investment, and asset management. Due to our short lines of communication we are able to make decisions faster than our competitors. Our goal is to offer our clients the best possible return on their investment; if you look at our track record, I think it shows we have always kept our promise.

Why did Corum decide to enter the Dutch market?

There are not many property funds on the Dutch market that enable private investors to invest in various countries in such a diversified manner. There are three ways to buy real estate: directly by investing in a building or indirectly through a fund, which can be either listed or unlisted. These are usually funds that focus on one market and one type of real estate, so they do not offer much spread. Corum invests in 16 countries, in 6 different industries and in 4 different currencies, so the spreading of risk is guaranteed. And I still don’t see any other company doing this in the Netherlands. That is what makes us unique.

Could you give a few examples of Corum’s investments in the Netherlands?

Corum bought the Zuidpoort shopping mall in Delft for 40 million euros and we purchased the Hermitage shopping mall in Zaandam for 27 million euros. Both these investments build on a strong business case with a good location, stable occupiers, and the right retail mix as the main pillars. And the presence of recognized brands such as Dutch supermarket giants Albert Heijn and Jumbo means this is a nice, tangible property investment for Dutch investors. That is something we find important as well. 

What is your target audience? 

Due to our accessibility we’ve attracted new clients from a wide range of backgrounds. Everyone is welcome. We have clients who have just entered the labour market or could be labelled as young professionals, but also investors who are turning away from the stock market and owners of companies who want to retire in 15 years’ time and are trying to build up a solid pension. We regularly welcome new clients who sold part of their property portfolio in order to use the easy investment options our Corum Funds offer. This is actually happening more often. But regardless of the type of investor, more and more Dutch people see our funds as a good alternative for the traditional savings account.

What kind of investment funds does Corum offer? 

We have two different funds: Corum Origin and Corum XL. Origin is the fund it all began with eight years ago; this fund is aimed at creating a stable, long-standing return on investment within the Eurozone. Cash flow is an important factor here. In 2017, we introduced Corum XL; with this fund we focus on the increased value of property,  looking for investments worldwide (excluding France). At the moment, both these open-end funds are run by the same teams. Origin represents investments of more than 1.9 billion euros, and the investments in Corum XL are currently totalling more than 800 million euros. Investing in Origin starts at 1,090 euros and the share price for XL 189 is euros. 

What is the return on investment? 

For XL, our target is 5% and in 2019, for the third year in a row, we’ve achieved more than 6% – in fact, it was 6.26%. For Origin, we’ve realized an ROI of 6.25%. However, our goal is not to achieve the highest possible return in the shortest amount of time. We’ve agreed with our shareholders to create a stable revenue source and a solid return on investment – and that is exactly what that figure of 6% represents. And it feels excellent that for eight years in a row now we’ve been able to pay out that sum every tenth day of every month.

Open-end funds are a deliberate choice? 

Absolutely. This way Corum Origin and Corum XL will keep on growing with the investments made by private investors. With their share prices (€ 189 and € 1,090, respectively) we’ve opened a market that previously was only accessible to institutional investors.

Corum invests in offices, shops, hotels, healthcare and logistics, but not in housing. Why?

Corum has chosen to keep all the aspects of property investment in-house and our strategy is to maintain a streamlined asset management. Rental housing requires a lot of management and this simply does not fit in with our formula. We try to minimize overhead costs in order to achieve the best results for our shareholders.

In which other countries do you operate? 

We’ve invested more than 150 million euros in Poland, one of the fastest growing EU member states and a country that offers good opportunities. Apart from Western Europe we are interested in the Baltic and Nordic countries. For example, Norway – where we started investing earlier this year – is a stable, mature economy. And we’ve also got our eyes on Canada and Australia. 

Asset management company BlackRock made sustainability an integral part of its investment strategy. To what extent are sustainable investments important to Corum?

Corum’s properties in the Netherlands are at least A-label office buildings, and all our buildings have a Breeam or Leed certificate. Corum is very much committed to sustainability and we really value the use of green energy and solar panels. And sustainability is also important in our sport sponsoring: we do not sponsor Formula 1, but focus entirely on international sailing races. Since 2018, we are the sponsor of one of the best-known skippers, so his beautiful mono-hull IMOCA 60 sailing boat carries the Corum name and company colours. 

Picture: Edwin Lips, Head of Sales Corum Netherlands

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Irine Gaasbeek: ‘Diverse teams are more creative’

Not getting the job because you are a woman? “Totally unacceptable,” says Irine Gaasbeek, Country Managing Director for Accenture Netherlands. “That would really be an injustice.” Her employees agree with…

Not getting the job because you are a woman? “Totally unacceptable,” says Irine Gaasbeek, Country Managing Director for Accenture Netherlands. “That would really be an injustice.” Her employees agree with her and won’t set up project teams that predominantly consist of men. “They know I won’t buy it if they say they can’t find capable women to include in their team. Just look further and you’ll find them.”

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STOX Energy Socks move to Zuidas

As from the first of August, STOX Energy Socks have taken up residence at Zuidas. To be more precise, the new premises of the scale-up can be found next to the…

As from the first of August, STOX Energy Socks have taken up residence at Zuidas. To be more precise, the new premises of the scale-up can be found next to the Olympic Stadion. “Our Herengracht office was not big enough. This new location suits us perfectly,” says Wouter de Keizer, CEO at STOX.

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Upperbloom upgrades your balcony!

Are you the one, blessed with a balcony or courtyard? Upperbloom upgrades your balcony with the most beautiful greenery and makes sure it keeps on blooming. All-year-round. And for those, lacking the…

Are you the one, blessed with a balcony or courtyard? Upperbloom upgrades your balcony with the most beautiful greenery and makes sure it keeps on blooming. All-year-round. And for those, lacking the gardener’s skills: There is not much looking after.

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