Meet Our People: Vanya

I've always had an interest in finance and investing. After moving to the Netherlands from India for university, I knew I wanted to study economics and finance. I joined former NNIP 3 years ago, just a week after Goldman Sachs announced its acquisition, which added to my excitement of starting my career, known as one of the best places to start one’s professional journey. Since joining, I’ve had the opportunity to try a variety of roles – including quant research, fundamental investment analyst and now client portfolio manager. Transitioning to my current role within European equities, I knew this was the perfect role for me – combining collaborative working and commercial strategy with product specialization and financial-economic awareness.

I have been given a lot of opportunities early in my career– it has been a steep learning curve but I'm relishing it. It's something I really appreciate about working here – you're given responsibility even as a relatively fresh starter. The autonomy given to own a product, develop a strategy to commercialize it, and run with it – but knowing I have a team to support and guide me through roadblocks as I build my knowledge has been instrumental in growing into my current role. The people around you build you up to walk before you can run, and then let you fly, but it’s important to take them with you as you can’t succeed alone in this business.

I sit in The Hague, but I work with colleagues and clients all over the world. This is one of the biggest reasons l like the Client Portfolio Manager role so much, especially within such a large global organization, as I get to work with so a diverse range of functions and personalities across business areas and regions. It makes everyday a lot more interesting as I get exposed to new skillsets, cultures and knowledge.

I like being the bridge between clients and our portfolio managers. Over time, I have gained the confidence to sit in front of clients with 25, 30 years of experience and share my knowledge and insights successfully, being specialized in my product area. As a team, we are always thinking of how we can deliver the most for our clients when they work with us – even if it's initially on one particular strategy – they are welcomed into the whole franchise, sharing knowledge on a broader scale than they ask for to build credibility.

Excellence for me is shown in the way we are continuously thinking about and delivering for our clients. Even if we don’t possess the exact solution a client requests, we do not shy away from the extra work needed to deliver something tailor made, as we value each and every relationship. We really want to become a one-stop-shop for all financial products and market insights. The breadth and depth of our firm expertise really comes through. I’m constantly driven by and learning from the people around me – and the way we are all focused in delivering the best possible results for our clients. It takes diligence, attention to detail and pursuit of excellence.

I’m proud of how much I have learnt since joining the firm and look forward to a much longer journey ahead. As I realize how important the support of my colleagues and superiors has been to kick-start my career, I feel passionately about passing this on to new interns or other graduates and giving them the support and expertise I received when I was first starting out.