Hilke Nijmeijer - Asset Manager Residential

ING Real Estate is the only company in the Netherlands offering a complete traineeship that includes development, investment management and finance. I studied Real Estate Management & Development at the Technical University in Eindhoven. Afterwards I worked as a management trainee within ING Real Estate for a period of two years. Currently I am responsible for part of the Dutch residential portfolio.

My traineeship

At the start of my management traineeship I was involved in setting up a French Residential Fund which is now up and running. After eight months I found myself a really challenging development assignment in Poland: Zlote Tarasy. It was great to be involved in such a beautiful project – I especially liked the property tours starting at 7 a.m. on Thursday mornings. I finished the development part of my traineeship in the Netherlands, working mainly on acquisitions.

For the first three months of 2007 I was in the regional Finance office in Amsterdam and finished my traineeship working on financing real estate investors/developers in Germany and Central Europe from the head office in The Hague. Since September I’ve been working as an asset manager for the ING Dutch Residential Fund. There’s a lot to learn, so probably I’ll stay here for some time!
What I love most about my job is the freedom. It feels like I’m running my own small enterprise, making sure there’s a good return on my part of the portfolio. Part of the week I spend in the office and for the rest I’m out and about visiting brokers and property managers. It really gives me a boost, also in my private life.

Opportunities to develop

The culture within ING Real Estate is great! There are a lot of opportunities to develop your personal and business skills. The atmosphere at work is enthusiastic, which makes it fun to go to work. However, we could do with a nicer place to have lunch…

I’ve had to learn patience and the need to involve other people. I try to take a long-term view and to be persuasive – to make sure that everyone understands and agrees on the chosen direction. What gives me most satisfaction is personal development, learning new things every day and making sure that the people who work with me have fun!