The University of Amsterdam

I very much wanted to study in Amsterdam because it would bring me in contact with different people and backgrounds and there is a lot to do in this city. This decision has resulted in some great friendships! Another thing I like is that Amsterdam is also built on a small scale - you can go almost anywhere with a bike. Even the airport is located close to the city.

The UvA also offers the possibility to study abroad and this was something I took advantage of. With an Erasmus Scholarship, I enjoyed studying at the La Sapienza University in Rome and with the student association for Actuarial Sciences, Econometrics and Operational Research (VSAE), I made study trips to Milan and Kuala Lumpur. I also worked on the Financial Studies students' association's (FSA) 2005 Research Project in Brazil. This was a great learning experience for me where I had to approach specified companies, conduct interviews and present recommendations to that company's management.

The programme

The content of the master's courses is very relevant to working in practice and this solid foundation allows for a smooth transition into the workplace. The courses offered will later help you in the decisions you make in your work. Some of the master's courses such as Asset Liability Management 2, the courses formerly known as Life Public Liability insurance, Excess of Loss insurance and Markov models and the elective Real Estate Finance & Portfolio Management were especially interesting because these courses were combined with weekly topics, assignments and presentations. You can learn a lot and you retain your knowledge better because of the discussions with your fellow students. This requires active participation and cooperation on your part. The teachers are professionals who you can approach with any question. From them I've learned to approach a topic or problem effectively and to make decisions based on certain assumptions, if recommendations need to be made under a deadline.

The thesis

In my thesis, I examined the possibilities of internally using a neutral-risk scenario generator for the purpose of Asset Liability Management (ALM) at Towers Perrin (founded as an American financial consulting company. I am now an associate at this company and we conduct ALM analyses for pension funds. This work includes finding the optimal manner in which pension funds investments meet the requirements of the pension funds (the pension to be paid out that is linked with ‘obligations' originating from the pension fund regulations). It is also possible that certain aspects of my thesis can be applied in the workplace, but that remains to be seen. Hopefully I'll learn a lot here during the next five years so I can contribute to improving the ALM programme