About Me.
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Jop Versteegt, Directeur Pensioenbureau
Centraal Beheer Algemeen Pensioenfonds Expert in (international) pensions and leading the team responsible for Centraal Beheer APF EDUCATION
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As a young boy, I dreamed of sailing on the ocean. I would later become a Maritime Officer and sail on the cruise ships of the Holland America Line. At a relatively young age I became father and, standing on the bridge, I decided to take a new job on land. In 2001 I started working in the financial industry, with a focus on pensions. Since 2003 - 2023, I had the privilege of working at Achmea, a company with a long-term focus based on its cooperative roots, and since 2023 as director responsible for Centraal Beheer Algemeen Pensioenfonds. Working in the financial industry, especially in the front line dealing with clients with large assets, has provided me with insight into the culture and mindset in which self-interest and a short-term focus, bonus-driven culture continue to be relevant in daily operations.
As a Christian steward I recognize God as the source of everything. We have to use the gifts with which He has entrusted us wisely. Although the financial industry plays a crucial in our daily lives, we must make a difference with regard to ethical leadership resolving not to be pushed by the outside world, but by our own intrinsic motivation. My personal focus in recent years has been directed more toward ethical leadership: how can I make the difference? This focus has also been challenged in the E-MBA program at TIAS, and it has provided me with confrontational new insight.
Everyone is convinced that ethical leadership is crucial, but no one could explain exactly how they make decisions on ethical questions.
Ethical discussions take place in special ethics committees, in boards of directors, in supervisory boards, and in other settings. Nevertheless, a structured manner of making such decisions has yet to be developed. Such a framework is also not presented or used as a subject for discussion in the curriculums of E-MBA programs and schools of economics. Why? One could argue that ethical decision-making cannot be done in a prescriptive format. Although this is fundamentally true, it can never be captured in a checklist. At the same time, however, a conceptual framework could be quite helpful in challenging and explaining the decisions that we make as individuals and as groups.
In the not-too-distant future, I envision a world in which robots help us in our daily lives. I am following these developments with great interest. I have become aware that, despite their major impact, the development of the digitalized industry and AI has remained unrecognized, especially in combination with ethical leadership. The implementation of AI in the financial industry could easily be at odds with ethical decision-making. For leaders in the financial industry, it is important to acknowledge this and act on it in a proactive manner.
With my research I try to provide some tools for answering the difficult questions by an ethical decision-making framework. Working on it has helped to improve my understanding of ethical decision-making, and it provides me with new insights. It has also inspired me, as well as many others with whom I have the privilege of discussing this subject. I would like to thank all of the people who are still or have been willing to listen to the concepts, to debate it, and to make it every day a better version than before.
As a Christian steward I recognize God as the source of everything. We have to use the gifts with which He has entrusted us wisely. Although the financial industry plays a crucial in our daily lives, we must make a difference with regard to ethical leadership resolving not to be pushed by the outside world, but by our own intrinsic motivation. My personal focus in recent years has been directed more toward ethical leadership: how can I make the difference? This focus has also been challenged in the E-MBA program at TIAS, and it has provided me with confrontational new insight.
Everyone is convinced that ethical leadership is crucial, but no one could explain exactly how they make decisions on ethical questions.
Ethical discussions take place in special ethics committees, in boards of directors, in supervisory boards, and in other settings. Nevertheless, a structured manner of making such decisions has yet to be developed. Such a framework is also not presented or used as a subject for discussion in the curriculums of E-MBA programs and schools of economics. Why? One could argue that ethical decision-making cannot be done in a prescriptive format. Although this is fundamentally true, it can never be captured in a checklist. At the same time, however, a conceptual framework could be quite helpful in challenging and explaining the decisions that we make as individuals and as groups.
In the not-too-distant future, I envision a world in which robots help us in our daily lives. I am following these developments with great interest. I have become aware that, despite their major impact, the development of the digitalized industry and AI has remained unrecognized, especially in combination with ethical leadership. The implementation of AI in the financial industry could easily be at odds with ethical decision-making. For leaders in the financial industry, it is important to acknowledge this and act on it in a proactive manner.
With my research I try to provide some tools for answering the difficult questions by an ethical decision-making framework. Working on it has helped to improve my understanding of ethical decision-making, and it provides me with new insights. It has also inspired me, as well as many others with whom I have the privilege of discussing this subject. I would like to thank all of the people who are still or have been willing to listen to the concepts, to debate it, and to make it every day a better version than before.
Let us try to challenge our personal ethical leadership, our decision-making, and our explanation of those decisions,
in order to make a better world for tomorrow and beyond.
in order to make a better world for tomorrow and beyond.
