Schedule of Seminar ‘Europe’s Future at Stake: Investing in Energy Security, Defence & Digital Leadership’

Seminar ‘Europe’s Future at Stake: Investing in Energy Security, Defence & Digital Leadership’

Monday, April 13, 2026 from 10:15 AM to 5:45 PM BIMhuis, Amsterdam in English

On Monday 13 April:
9:30 - 10:15 Registration & Coffee
10:15 - 10:30 Welcome & Introduction

Arjen Pasma, Chief Investment Officer, PGGM
10:30 - 11:00 Europe’s Future at Stake: From Stability to Strategic Autonomy

Barbara Baarsma, Chief Economist, PwC Netherlands, Professor of Applied Economics, University of Amsterdam

11:00 - 11:30 Europe’s Strategic Transitions: From Policy Ambition to Investable & Sustainable Frameworks

Bouke Evers, Partner EY Adviseurs, Enterprise Resilience Lead, EY NL
11:30 - 12:00 Clean energy and power - a story of two tales

Ulrik Fugmann, CIO, Head of Investment, Environmental Strategies Group, BNP Paribas Asset Management

12:00 - 12:30 Energy transition technologies: securing and stabilising tomorrow's grid

Sean Maguire, Partner, Schroders Greencoat, and Jamie Milne, Head of Investor Relations, Schroders Greencoat
12:30 - 13:15 Lunch
13:15 - 13:30 Meet the Expert Sessions
13:30 - 14:00 Europe: hang together or, most assuredly, hang separately?

Klaas Knot, Former President of De Nederlandsche Bank, Former Chair of the Financial Stability Board, Professor of Money and Banking, University of Groningen
14:00 - 14:30 Panel discussion on ‘Financing Europe’s Strategic Transitions: What Role for Institutional Capital?’

With:

  • Yorick Cramer, Sector Manager Industry & Defense, Rabobank
  • Klaas Knot, Former President of De Nederlandsche Bank, Former Chair of the Financial Stability Board, Professor of Money and Banking, University of Groningen 
  • Ronald Wuijster, Former CEO, APG Asset Management 
14:30 - 14:45 Coffee break
14:45 - 15:15 Private Markets as a Pillar of Europe’s Strategic Reindustrialisation

Niranjan Sirdeshpande, Global Head of Investments, M&G Investments
15:15 - 15:45 European Direct Lending – contributing to European resilience

Tom Green, Head of Direct Lending, HSBC Asset Management

15:45 - 16:00 Coffee break
16:00 - 16:30 Is Europe ready for the AI investing age?

Thomas Kieselstein, Senior Partner, Quoniam Asset Management
16:30 - 17:15 Case studies Energy Security, Defence & Digital Leadership

4.30 pm: Case study 1: Building energy security at scale from entrepreneurial vision to investable infrastructure
Kees Koolen, Founder, CEO, Koolen Industries, Former CEO, Booking.com, Advisor, Uber

4.45 pm: Case study 2: Defense: Europe’s Strategic Blind Spots
Hans Huigen, Managing Director, NIDV

5.00 pm: Case Study 3: AI and Digital Sovereignty: Balancing Innovation and Strategic Autonomy
Annemarie Costeris, Government Affairs Director, Microsoft
17:15 - 17:45 Panel discussion on ‘Investing in Europe’s Future: Returns, Risk and Reality for Institutional Investors’
  • Evalinde Eelens, Pension fund board member, various pension funds
  • Laure Wessemius-Chibrac, Managing Director, Netherlands Advisory Board on impact investing (NAB)
  • Rinke Zonneveld, CEO, Invest-NL
17:45 - 19:00 Drinks Reception