February 2, 2023
Arthur Jongejans has just successfully completed his internship at StartGreen as an Impact Investment Analyst. In this blog, he shares what he has done and learned over the past six months.
‘During my studies at Erasmus University College, I discovered that I find the combination of economics and sustainability very interesting. Because I wanted to delve deeper into that, I am now doing a pre-master’s in Economics at the UvA. In my search for a suitable internship, I Googled “sustainable investing” and ended up at StartGreen. I saw the vacancy for an Impact Investment Analyst internship on the site and applied immediately.
Positively surprised
During this internship, you develop a financial perspective on investments and learn about the social impact of those investments. Initially, I thought investment decisions were made solely based on Excel calculations and testing against requirements. I soon discovered that an investment decision is much more of a holistic assessment, involving many qualitative aspects: the composition of the team, the timing, and whether this is truly the best solution for that specific problem. All the puzzle pieces together determine whether or not you invest. I was positively surprised by that.
Personal development
My internship supervisor works for several StartGreen funds. My activities were very varied. By being involved in all facets of impact investing, I gained a broad insight into the inner workings of the field. From the start, my supervisor prioritized my personal development so that I could learn what I wanted to learn. To maintain structure in my work, I worked for Energiefonds Overijssel three days a week. Every Friday afternoon, I could spend an hour asking my supervisor any questions arising from my work. I found his perspective, based on his experience, very insightful. Once a month, we evaluated where I stood and what else I wanted to learn here.
So, I was definitely not just filling in Excel sheets 24/7, as I had expected beforehand. I gathered information, partly from behind my laptop and partly by engaging in conversations with founders. Furthermore, I gained knowledge about themes and markets at events. In fact, I was allowed to get a taste of all the activities that Investment Managers and Investment Directors do.
Value addition
In addition, I contributed to the Impact Report 2021. From that, I learned how to calculate impact and according to which rules. Among other things, I calculated the CO2 reduction of Energiefonds Overijssel’s investments. Every fund managed by StartGreen has its own focus; Energiefonds Overijssel focuses on accelerating the energy transition. I was able to add value to the creation of the report primarily by aggregating the data provided by the portfolio companies of all the funds. I performed sanity checks on that: are the calculations correct? Have they been interpreted properly?
Where I thought I could add something, I gave my opinion. That is in my character; I am not bothered by power structures. I always give my opinion with respect for what people do and have built. I felt that was possible here; there was room to share things. At a larger company, I wouldn’t do that so quickly. That was also one of the reasons for choosing a smaller company.
Start of career
This is my first internship. So I have no comparison, but I experienced this internship as very pleasant. Next year, I am going to do a “regular” master’s. I would like to further investigate the academic side of sustainable investing. Because I want to learn more in practice, I want to do an internship for my master’s in the field where economic policy and climate policy intersect. After my master’s and internship, I will take stock: what gave me the most energy? What seems like a nice workplace to start my career? There is certainly a chance that it will be here at StartGreen.
Necessary innovations
Sustainability has become more important to me during my internship. I have started thinking more consciously about certain choices; for example, when I travel, I don’t just hop on a plane. In this environment, you come into contact with sustainability a lot. You get tips and tricks from colleagues and from other sustainable entrepreneurs in the SDG House. It has become clearer to me that we need a lot of innovation to meet the Paris climate goals. I think it would be very cool to do something with that later in my career.
Ample growth opportunities
I would definitely recommend this internship. You can learn a tremendous amount about sustainable investing here. I also found the working atmosphere at StartGreen very pleasant. Everyone was willing to answer my questions. I think an important prerequisite is that you are intrinsically driven by sustainability. Your background is not very important: you can learn a lot here anyway. I don’t have a finance background myself; you can learn that on the job. Moreover, you can grow more personally here than at a larger corporate, where things are often more rigidly defined. Here, you are given every opportunity to seize chances yourself, while being well-supervised.’
Curious about internship opportunities at StartGreen? You can find them on the page: Working at StartGreen Capital
