
My journey with Wire Group – Interview with Nina
‘I can now make a difference on a bigger scale than with my own business’
Nina (39, Amsterdam), like her husband Johan, has a business degree. She had her own business in textiles when, in 2020, her father died suddenly. The latter had built his business from a sole proprietorship to a global company with 400 employees in 40 years. Nina knew that for the most part she would be the sole heir, but did not know beforehand what this would mean for her.
At the time of my father’s death, there were five active companies and a portfolio of assets – listed, some funds, some start-ups and a lot of real estate. I was indirectly involved in the family business when my father died. But I had my own business that required most of my time and attention. Johan has a finance background and often discussed the business with my father; they had a warm relationship. Because I did not want to give up my own business, Johan initially took over, continuing the strategy my father had drawn up.
Getting involved in impact investing
I had always been interested in sustainability and our first impact investment was in the Future Food Fund. We then delved further into sustainability through our network and got into impact investing. Until we realised that we were doing things a bit haphazardly, without paying attention to the bigger landscape.
Someone recommended talking to Wire Group and, after two conversations, we started a slimmed-down version of the ‘Conscious Wealth Passport’, as Wire calls it. Slimmed-down because we are stubborn and because Johan has a lot of knowledge himself. The Conscious Wealth investment policy that we ended up developing is really concrete. Starting from our values, the sectors we will focus on and our investment criteria are really clear, including things like maturities and minimum ticket sizes. Meanwhile, we invested into the Wire Thrive Fund and attended the carbon credits event – Wire Group does really interesting things.
I now realise how special it is to have assets if you can do great things with them. We were asked exactly the right questions by Wire, which means Johan and I now have a clear sense of direction and have a lot of clarity about our respective roles.
I have become more aware of where my own strengths lie and want to take a clear position. Until the work we did with Wire, Johan made investment proposals and I said yes or no. Now it is clear that Johan will focus on the family business side and I on the impact investment side. In future, I will also come up with more ideas and proposals myself and Johan can give his views on them. So that process has changed. This clarity means I no longer feel uncomfortable in my position.
More holistic and deeper thought
Johan is rational and business-like and initially found Wire Group’s approach a bit floaty. For him, they could have asked fewer questions and painted more of a picture of all the alternatives. ‘These are the 36 flavours and take your pick’ – something like that. But because that’s not how they work, the investment policy has really come from ourselves. It is more holistic and more deeply thought through.
We have developed an overarching impact strategy that integrates both our investment portfolio and our family business. Our original approach was a bit schizophrenic: very sustainable on the asset side, but much less so on the corporate side. In my role, I am going to call attention to impact everywhere: how can we shape that, how can we get everyone on board with it? I also want to play a connecting and visible role in all our networks to generate enthusiasm for that approach.
Agriculture in Africa is one of the themes I am very enthusiastic about. I want to learn all about that. My interest in sustainability turns out to be much broader than just textiles. That was a fascinating insight I gained during our engagement with Wire.
I am currently still looking for young people who are no longer NextGen, but Now-Gen – so to speak. Of the young people I meet, the parents are often still alive, so they do have a different position. I haven’t quite found my own tribe yet.
Looking back, I found the whole journey intense, but very valuable. Initially, I jokingly blamed Wire for putting me in an existential crisis. Because I was comfortable dividing my time between my own business, the family business and our assets. That was completely turned on its head, because through our conversations I came to the conclusion that I enjoy impact investing more. Besides, I can make a difference on a bigger scale than with my own business.
Known me as a baby
The directors of the family businesses all knew me as a baby, so stepping up and taking a strong position in relation to them was not easy at first. But now that my role is clear, it makes me firmer in the conversations that I need to have with them. Johan can talk to them about day-to-day cashflow issues, I look at the bigger picture, at where we’re going. And I am the one who is going to be talking about impact all the time.
I think my father would really have liked what we are doing now. Soon the company will be celebrating an anniversary. That Johan and I will be there together then, he would have loved it. He would have understood if we had sold the business, but I’m sure he would be very happy knowing that we are continuing with it and giving it our own direction. His famous saying was that our generation should save the world. That was easy for him to say! But we take it very seriously now. So he must be looking down on us and how we are doing from above with satisfaction.