Finance & Risk Management

The Control Team: ABN AMRO's financial watchdog

From supermarket to bank

"In my student days, I worked as a team leader at a large supermarket. In fact, I was already working on stakeholder management and customer assistance. People needed something from me. That's still the case: in the supermarket it was customers; now it's my colleagues."

"As a junior controller at ABN AMRO Mortgage Group, I’m responsible for a number of business units, also known as 'portfolios'. I’m the financial contact for these portfolios, draw up budgets and compile forecasts, and keep the department informed of the financial state of play. I do this for Florius, one of our mortgage labels, for example. And for the Risk department, in conjunction with a colleague."

Financial challenges

"I work with four other controllers and a manager. Our team is in turn part of the Control and Contract Management Department. We process the financial data of all the ABN AMRO Mortgage Group departments into comprehensible reports, and then present them to the management. In this way, we give advice on the financial position of the company. But we don't just work internally: stakeholders also ask us for information."

"We regularly switch portfolios to ensure that we get enough variation, swapping over every so often. This keeps our work innovative and ensures that each business unit has its own financial challenges." 

"That's also what makes this job so enjoyable: you find out what the main topics of each portfolio are. I’m glad I’m given a lot of responsibility, especially for a junior. It means that I’m able to set my own priorities and do things in my own way. Being allowed to make mistakes is part of that: it shows that the organisation has confidence in me." 

Seminars and ski trips

"The Mortgage Group is a lot smaller than head office. Before I joined, I’d expected it to be a bit ‘grander’, but in the end I wasn’t disappointed. Relations within the team are good and the organisation is informal and very sociable." 

"I’m in a working group that organises activities for the finance department, which my team is part of. We recently held a seminar on working from home, and soon we’ll be having drinks. Despite the fact that it now all has to be done remotely, everyone’s highly enthusiastic! It’s also great to see many young people working for the organisation. I myself am a member of Young ABN AMRO, which is for anyone under 35. They organise ski trips, seminars, beer tastings and so on".

Countless possibilities

"I knew I wanted to go into banking as early as my Economics and Business Economics studies. I was attracted by the large-scale nature of banking and the fact that it presents you with a wide range of options. That’s proved to be the case; I’m still learning so much and there are plenty of opportunities for growth. But at the moment I’m perfectly happy where I am. I'm only 22, so I feel I've only just got started."