Securitisation Market: Young professionals in the spotlight

This year, for the first time, the Securitisation Event is paying special attention to Young Professionals active in the securitisation industry. A special breakout session — during which young talent will be able to question Dutch economist and commentator Mathijs Bouman — promises to be a lively addition to the event’s programme. The discussion is entitled “The Financial Future of Young Professionals — acquiring wealth post Covid-19” — and it is the first step in setting up a long-term network of young professionals involved in the industry.

We spoke to the hosts of the question-and-answer session: Célia Jordaan and Daniël Möhlmann, both Legal Services Lawyers at Vistra. Vistra Capital Markets provides a full spectrum of services for securitisations and other structured finance transactions. It has over 250 experts working from all major global financial centres and over $140bn of assets under administration.

Why should young professionals not miss this event?

Célia: “This is a unique opportunity to meet everybody who is active in the industry, and to expand your personal network. During our breakout session we hope to meet fellow young professionals in the early stages of their careers at law firms and financial institutions. Our aim is to provide our contemporaries with a platform to become actively involved, and to gain a deeper understanding of the trends in the market.”

What do you think Mathijs Bouman will bring to the table?

Daniël: “He is a journalist, economist and commentator in the Netherlands who is well-known for explaining complicated macro-economic matters in clear language. He’s therefore an interesting person to have a conversation with on the current trends and topics on securitisation, but also on the housing market, for example, which is a component of securitisation. The housing market is currently a very hot topic for young professionals in the Netherlands.”

Housing market challenges

How do you both see the challenges differing between generations on today’s housing market?

Daniël: “There is a major housing shortage in the Netherlands. I think this is a more significant problem for the younger generation with regards to owning your first home.”

Célia: “Even the rental market is challenging for our generation. There is a lot more demand than supply, especially in the major urban areas.”
Daniël: “Today’s young professionals are trapped between very high rents, or the almost impossible conditions for buying a first home.”

Célia: “That’s what I see around me. It actually prevents me from searching for a house to buy for myself at this point in my career. I live in a rented apartment in Amsterdam.”

What do think will be the relevance of this in the breakout session?

Daniël: “The buy-to-let market is an interesting topic to dive into, for example. At Vistra, we service several buy-to-let securitisations. A buy-to-let mortgage is specifically designed for those buying property with the sole purpose of renting it out. We see more and more money, also from abroad, interested in investing in the Dutch residential mortgage market. And the more real estate which is bought to let, the less there is available to buy in order to live in yourself. This has been a trend for several years now, and it creates an interesting dynamic for us to discuss.”

Who pays for Covid-19?

Do you think you will be discussing other socio-economic trends?

Célia: “Certainly. We also want to talk about who will end up paying the bill for Covid-19. This is especially relevant for young professionals in terms of how this impacts our ability to acquire wealth. If we cannot afford to buy a home, for example, how can we tackle the bill for Covid-19 in future? However, there is also a theory that our generation will become very wealthy, as we inherit from the Baby Boomers, one of the wealthiest generations.”

Daniël: “It will be interesting — but admittedly challenging — to see if we can establish whether the young professionals of today have as many opportunities as their parents did, or whether they are a facing a more difficult start.”

Célia: “But it’s not all about our questions! We want to give all the breakout attendees the opportunity to ask questions during the session. We want it to be as interactive as possible: rather like the Dutch TV programme format “College Tour”, with on this occasion Mathijs Bouman in the guest hot seat.”

For more information or tickets, visit the eventpage of the Securitisation Event 2022.