Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
After working successfully with five CEO's and six CFO's with different nationalities and backgrounds, I can be a trusted advisor and sparring partner with extensive knowledge and experience in business, communications and the financial markets. I am reliable, relatively independent, results oriented and used to operate at different levels, connecting easily with people and parties inside and outside the organization. Based on my extensive experience, I can help companies assessing and strengthening the relationship with their shareholders and together develop possibilities to improve the communication to the financial markets. I believe that long term and sustainable success in business is all about trust. Customers, employees, neighbors, investors, they all face the same question: can I trust this company? Investors can only base their investment decision on assumptions about what the company will do and look like in the years to come. Today’s share price is nothing more and nothing less than an estimate of all future cashflows, with half of the total value based on assumptions on the expected performance and circumstances from year five until eternity (!) with all its uncertainties... For shareholders, frequent and easy access to senior management is crucial to model that future performance and to develop a long term relationship, including events like capital markets days and field trips where not only the CEO and CFO participate but also line managers who, with proper prepping can contribute significantly to the authenticity and resilience of the business case. Senior management will be judged by their deeds; consistency and predictability in their decision making and behavior increases the likelihood of a positive investment decision and keeps shareholders on board also in more turbulent times. Under pressure, it can be tempting to deviate from the strategic course to please short term oriented investors but does create uncertainty for those who are in for long term. In these cases, outside counsel and careful external sounding can help to withstand too much opportunistic behavior within the board. Adequate corporate governance is at least a hygiene factor for investors. Its importance will increase and for a broader group than ESG oriented investors only. Where activist shareholders are used to focus on strategy, financial structure and performance, activist shareholders will put corporate governance issues on the agenda and may force senior management to act upon it.