8 March 2024  |  Schiphol

5 questions with Marlous van Wouwe, Global HR Director at DIF

Ahead of International Women’s Day, we sat down with Marlous van Wouwe, Global HR Director at DIF, to talk about the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion to an organisation.

 

1. You’ve been Global HR Director at DIF since mid-2022. What have been your proudest achievements?

“It’s very pleasing to see that diversity is now a standing strategic agenda item at our board meetings. I have seen so many businesses, not just in infrastructure, still treating diversity as an administrative issue. Recognising that it’s something the board should be discussing every time it meets is very important. Having real conversations on the topic.

The board recently suggested themselves that diversity should be part of our KPIs. It is  great to see that the most senior individuals in the organisation are now actively putting themselves forward to help to improve diversity. We work as one team at DIF, combining our global outlook with local expertise and feet on the ground. To be able to function as one team and to reach our best potential, we need an inclusive culture, different perspectives and equal chances. This is why having Diversity, Equity and Inclusion embedded in our organisation is so important.”

 

2. On a personal level, what lessons have you learned throughout your career with respect to diversity and inclusion?

“I’ve learned a few lessons about what leadership looks like. Some of them have been learned by reconsidering things I was told. For example, like a lot of women, I was told that my leadership style needed to change, that effectively I needed to adopt a more masculine style. Over time I have learned that this isn’t true. The best leaders are those who are authentically themselves and focus on empowering their team.

I’ve also learned the best organisations for diversity are those that try to be ‘ahead of the curve’ and anticipate issues before they arise. There have been times in my career where I had to speak up for myself and establish a boundary, for example over leaving the office to pick up my children from school. The best businesses make clear that they understand people need to take care of family responsibilities. Communicating proactively on issues such as caring responsibilities, disability and neurodiversity can make a big difference to team members.”

 

3. How diverse is DIF as an organisation?

“Today we’re marking International Women’s Day, but we need to focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion all together. Inclusiveness and equity (equal chances) are key, and we need to demonstrate this as an organisation to contribute to changing the way we work.

In general, financial services, and infrastructure specifically, hasn’t traditionally been a very diverse sector. For DIF, diversity is extremely important and part of the way we operate. In our day-to-day work we actively manage our assets to generate value for our investors, with teams on the ground where those assets are located. We recruit local experts and globally our business comprises of more than 23 different nationalities. That has shaped how we work and ensures we have diverse perspectives that are welcomed and included. Think globally, but act locally, with feet on the ground.

Actively managing our assets also means hiring executives with diversity in experience and background. We’re looking for a mix in strategic thinking, technical expertise and experience in the field. Making sure a team consists of talent with diverse expertise and backgrounds is what leads to divergent thinking and success. For example, new hires in the past year have come from over 55 different universities and schools.”

 

4. Can you give some examples of how diversity, equity and inclusion is incorporated in DIF’s everyday business?

“There are a whole range of initiatives at DIF to try to become a more diverse organisation. I think we can categorise them into recruitment, retention and advancement.

When we recruit, we ask recruiters for a diverse slate of candidates – gender, ethnicity, educational background, career history. We accept that this means it will often take longer to build that diverse group of candidates.

We’ve built a number of internal structures to ensure a diverse and inclusive workplace. People should feel valued, and voices should be heard. We’ve tried to do this by, amongst other initiatives, the introduction of a Next Gen Board, which ensures the voices of younger team members at DIF are heard at board level through regular meetings on strategic topics. Networking groups are also key, like bringing women in DIF together.

Also, it is important to make sure everyone has the same opportunities for success. This is all about a fair talent review process, making sure everyone is measured via the same standard and eliminating (unconscious) bias.

Finally, and not to be underestimated, is inclusive leadership training at all levels, tailored to the career stage of each team member. For senior individuals that includes ensuring diverse voices within teams are listened to and a focus on emotional intelligence, making sure authentic leadership, meaning a variety of leadership traits, are appreciated and supported. How do you empower the collective. One of our core values is that we are one team. That only works if everyone can bring their true selves to work.”

 

5. What is DIF doing to ensure our female team members get equal opportunities throughout their careers?

“One of the most important things you can do to improve diversity is to be an understanding employer. We recognise the structural barriers for women building careers in our industry and try to eliminate them.

One of those barriers is returning to work after having children. Too often, women are left to ‘sink or swim’ in that situation when a better approach is to have regular ‘check-ins’, not just with the HR team, but with line managers too. That’s where issues women are facing can be identified and dealt with early before they impact equality of opportunity.

We have a culture of flexible working hours and the possibility to work from home. The work is still demanding but people have the flexibility to pick up their children. I also have a family to manage with two daughters and a husband who works fulltime. I personally know how difficult it is to balance work and family responsibilities and the importance of an employer who makes a healthy work-life balance possible.

Having mostly referred to women with children, equally important is the focus on empowering young female talent. Doing the right things to make sure they have equal opportunities by offering leadership training and coaching on how to engage and empower female talent and ensuring a representation of role models in female leadership. Our senior female leadership has increased from 12% to 21% over the last two years and our board consists of three male and two female members. Next to this, we are establishing both internal and external mentorship programs.

Improving diversity, equity, and inclusion is an ongoing journey. It’s something we continuously need to focus on and put effort towards.”

 

Bio Marlous van Wouwe
Marlous is the Global HR Director at DIF. She has 15yrs+ experience in the field of HR transformation with a focus on reward & talent, global HR strategy development, international mobile employees, process outsourcing/automation, and large-scale employee relocations.

Prior to joining DIF, Marlous was Director People & Organisation at PwC, and prior to this, she was Global Head International Mobility at ING bank. Marlous is a tax lawyer and holds a Master’s degree in Tax law from the University of Leiden.

Marlous van Wouwe
21 December 2023  |  Schiphol

Congratulations to our 44 employees that have been promoted this year!

People have always been DIF’s greatest asset and the work our employees do doesn’t go unrecognised.

This is the full list of this year’s promotions per grade. Join us in wishing them every success in their new role.

Congratulations to all of you!

Promotions to Managing Director
Jesse van Schouwenburg
Helen Murphy
Kees de Ru
Marlous van Wouwe
Pierre Boschin
Julien Millet

Dan Fetter has been appointed as Deputy Head Value Creation

Promotions to Senior Director
Twan van Vlerken
Philipp Lauch
Carmen Martín
Tristan Taylor
Angelo Lacroix

Promotion to Director 
Alessandro Pinelli
Steven Cross
Thibault Barrallon
Matt Harding
Jason Loo
Carmen Gonzalez
Heloise Gouget
Jovi Li
Rebecca Mulder
Raymon Ruijter
Victoria Stradnic
Mark Vuurberg
Melissa Chan

Promotion to Associate Director
Sascha Rütz
Bryce Freeburn
Somar Alhajali
Charlotte Wijlhuizen
Kirsten Lagerweij
Wybren Brouwer
Maxime Reinke
Michael Wong
Sarah Travis
Hamza Chaudhry
Olivier Laflamme
Miguel Sanchez de las Matas
Shyam Rajani

Promotion to Associate 
Lauren Page
Katarzyna Fuglewicz
Katerina Novotna
Rico Glase
Michel Bartoschik
Johannes von Möllendorff

Promotion to Analyst
Jenny Chen

A vase with flowers with people in the background
9 March 2023  |  Schiphol

Meet our experts at the Infrastructure Investor Global Summit from 20-23 March

Eleven more days to go until the start of the annual Infrastructure Investor Global Summit in Berlin!

Meet our Investor Relations team and make sure not to miss out on what three of our thought leaders have to say in their respective panel sessions:

  • Our Head of Digital Infrastructure and Managing Director Kanan Joshi will speak on digital infrastructure;
  • Partner and Head of Instructure Gijs Voskuyl will be on a panel on the global infrastructure landscape;
  • Last but not least, partner and Head of CIF Willem Jansonius will talk about energy transition.

See you in Berlin from 20-23 March!

8 March 2023  |  London

DIF International Women’s Day panel

International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. But it also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality, as there’s still a lot of work to do!

The 2023 International Women’s Day theme is #EmbraceEquity.

To mark the occasion, DIF held a thought-provoking IWD livestream event on Monday. We had the pleasure of welcoming Maggie Alphonsi as our keynote speaker.

Maggie is a former English Rugby Union player and she gave us her unique perspective as a sportswoman, coach and commentator in the male dominated world of rugby.

Maggie joined the panel discussion alongside Lorna Shearin (Jefferies International), Anna Baumbach (Palladio Partners), Laverne McGuinness (The Talbot Group), our CFO Zaina Ahmed-Karim and our HR Director Marlous van Wouwe.

The panel covered numerous topics, including gender equality in the financial industry, inspiring role models, allyship, unconscious bias and personal experiences. All panellists provided insightful views on each of the topics as well as some thoughtful ways on how to take the next step in gender equality.

A big thank you to all speakers and the DIF team that made this event possible: Josefin Muehlbauer, Carmen Martín Pejenaute, CFA, Sasha Roberts, Andrew Freeman, Gijs Voskuyl and our HR team!

19 December 2022  |  Schiphol

Congratulations to our 36 employees that have been promoted this year!

People have always been DIF’s greatest asset and the work our employees do doesn’t go unrecognised.

Join us in wishing them every success in their new role. This is the full list of this year’s promotions per grade. Congratulations to all of you!

Rhea Castelino CA Origination Associate
Claudia Harrington GB Asset Management Associate
Alexander Mend NL IT Associate
Foucault Monguillon FR Origination Associate
Josh Simpson CA Asset Management Associate
Samira Taarabti LU Finance Associate
Serhat Torbali LU Legal & Regulatory Associate
Jack Woodruff AU Asset Management Associate
Thomas van Agtmaal NL Origination Associate
Kees Arets NL Origination Associate Director
Gurpreet Badwal CA Origination Associate Director
Daniel Beri US Origination Associate Director
Marlon Berkhoff NL Finance Associate Director
Sybren Bruin NL Finance Associate Director
Amit Joshi GB Asset Management Associate Director
Stephanie Koning NL Finance Associate Director
William Alink NL IR & BD Director
George Craig CA Origination Director
Jonas Freise DE Origination Director
Annemiek Houben NL Legal & Regulatory Director
Bastien Zehntner FR Origination Director
Paul Adams NL IR & BD Managing Director
Luis Hinojosa CL Origination Managing Director
Mathieu Hévin FR Origination Managing Director
Kanan Joshi US Origination Managing Director
Aymeric Piquet-Gauthier FR Asset Management Managing Director
Roger Roumen NL Finance Managing Director
Thijs Verburg NL IR & BD Managing Director
Marissa Dardi GB Asset Management Senior Director
Karen Fluks NL Compliance Senior Director
Joeri Heijnen NL Finance Senior Director
Philip Newzella DE Asset Management Senior Director
Charlie Websper GB Origination Senior Director
María-José Crespo ES General Senior Management Assistant
Andrea Mueller DE General Senior Management Assistant
Sasha Roberts GB General Senior Management Assistant
24 November 2022  |  Schiphol

Annual DIF ESG event: net zero and cyber security

“How Finland moves to sustainable heating” and “Why ransomware gangs gain access to your company on a Friday afternoon”.

These were just some of the fascinating topics discussed during our engaging and thought-provoking annual DIF ESG Event. It was held in hybrid format on 22nd November 2022, with an audience of just under 200 people.

A well-diversified mix of management teams, investee companies and DIF employees joining either in-person or via livestream. The event covered two important ESG themes: net zero and cyber security.

A big thank you to our exceptional external speakers: Simon Mundy (FT Journalist and author of “The Race for Tomorrow”), Matti Tynjala (CEO, Loimua Oy), Erik Westhovens (Cyber Security Expert and author of “13.Ransomwared”) and to our own ESG Team: Angela Roshier, Frank Siblesz and Hanah Chang for putting together such an insightful event.

22 November 2022  |  London

DIF strengthens digital infrastructure team with two senior hires

DIF Capital Partners has expanded the European team to support its growth and ambitions in the digital infrastructure space. Digital assets are one of the key focus areas of DIF’s CIF fund strategy, headed by Willem Jansonius.

On 1 November, Simon Rozas started as Head of European Digital Infrastructure based in London. Simon will be supported by Jan Angenendt, who joined DIF as a Director in Frankfurt in October.

Simon will lead the origination and investments in digital infrastructure across Europe. Previously, he worked at Cube Infrastructure Managers, where he led greenfield fiber projects across Europe for the Connecting Europe Broadband Fund. Simon’s career includes over two decades of experience in investing, lending and investment banking at the EBRD, Citigroup and HSBC. He started his studies in Vilnius University and holds a B.A. and an M.A. in Economics and Finance from Brandeis University in Massachusetts.

Jan joined DIF from InfraRed Capital Partners, where he covered origination in the DACH region, including digital infrastructure projects. Prior to that, Jan worked as a senior associate for KPMG Corporate Finance, as a policy advisor at HM Treasury and as a UK government economist. He holds Master’s degrees in Economics from the University of Warwick and the Free University of Berlin.

Willem Jansonius, partner and Head of CIF at DIF Capital Partners says: “I’m delighted with the appointment of Simon and Jan. This further boosts the strength of our digital infrastructure team in Europe, which is an area where DIF is quickly expanding its footprint and sees ample room for growth. I am looking forward to working closely together with our new team members and am confident that our investors and the companies we invest in will benefit from the team’s enhanced capabilities.”

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF Capital Partners is an independent infrastructure fund manager, with more than EUR 15 billion of AUM. DIF was founded in 2005 and has built a leading position in managing mid-market investments, primarily in Europe, North America and Australia.

DIF follows two strategies: its traditional DIF funds invest in lower risk mid-sized infrastructure projects and companies in the energy transition (incl. renewables) and utilities sector, as well as PPPs and concessions. The firm’s CIF funds invest in small to mid-sized companies that will thrive in the new economy. These companies are typically active in the digital, energy transition and sustainable transportation sector.

With a team of over 200 professionals in 11 offices, DIF Capital Partners offers a unique market approach combining global presence with the benefits of strong local networks and investment capabilities. DIF is located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, Helsinki, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, New York, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto.

For more information please visit www.dif.eu.

Contact: Diederik Heinink, d.heinink@dif.eu

10 November 2022  |  Schiphol

COP27: our commitment to net zero

The world is gathering in Sharm El-Sheikh for COP27 to discuss climate change and it has probably never felt as urgent as it does now. At the same time, a lot has happened already and important steps are being taken.

DIF Capital Partners joined the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative in 2021 and we committed our firm to being a net zero investor by 2050 or sooner.

But, we wanted to stretch this ambition. So we’ve set an interim target of 70% of our AUM to be aligning with net zero by 2030. We have already started collecting our portfolio’s carbon footprint and are developing decarbonisation plans for individual investments.

The title of our recently published 2022 ESG-report is ‘Accelerating the transition’. That’s not just a title. It is what we truly stand for and what we’re putting a lot of effort in every day.

Download our ESG report here.

10 October 2022  |  

DIF publishes ESG Annual Report 2022 “Accelerating the transition”

Today, DIF Capital Partners publishes its 2022 ESG report “Accelerating the transition” reflecting on our ESG activities and achievements with a special focus on how our new investment funds accelerate the energy transition. Alongside this publication, we are proud to report a five star rating under the new UNPRI framework, a reward for our strong commitment to ESG throughout the firm.

With the launch of our new DIF VII and CIF III funds, we started to develop a broader approach to sustainable infrastructure that invests not only in real assets, but also in those companies along the value chain accelerating the transition to a net zero and more connected economy.

From electric vehicle charging points to fiber networks, the transition requires new infrastructure across the world and significant amounts of institutional capital to reach the maturity, scale and scope required.

We made notable new investments that are accelerating this transition with their products and services. Some examples are Plugit, one of the largest EV charging infrastructure companies in Finland, ib vogt, a global solar developer across 40 countries, and Bernhard, an energy-as-a-service provider in the US.

All new funds were categorised as ‘Article 8’ under the EU’s new Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), as they are promoting specific environmental and social objectives. For example, the Dutch Climate Action Fund, a partnership with NN Group, is driving the energy transition and contribute to the Dutch GHG reduction target through a focused investment strategy.

In 2021, we also joined the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative and committed our firm to being a net zero investor by 2050 or sooner. To start with, we have set a target of 70% of our AUM to be aligning with net zero by 2030, we are collecting our portfolio’s carbon footprint and have started developing investment-by-investment decarbonisation plans.

Core to our business is an appreciation of the strong connection between our investments, their users and our own employees. That’s why we pride ourselves in taking care of our own people and communities, in “walking the talk” on the environment and promoting diversity and equality of opportunity.

More information on our ESG activities and achievements: download the 2022 report.

 

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF Capital Partners is a leading global independent investment manager, with ca. EUR 14 billion in assets under management across eleven closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF invests in infrastructure companies and assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Australia through two complementary strategies:

  • DIF CIF funds, of which DIF CIF III is the latest vintage, target equity investments in small to mid-sized core-plus infrastructure companies in the telecom, energy transition, and transportation sectors.
  • Traditional DIF funds, of which DIF Infrastructure VII is the latest vintage, target core and build-to-core infrastructure equity investments with long-term contracted or regulated income streams including public-private partnerships, concessions, utilities, and energy transition projects (incl. renewable energy).

DIF Capital Partners has a team of over 200 professionals, based in eleven offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, Helsinki, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, New York, Paris, Santiago, Sydney, and Toronto. For more information please visit www.dif.eu.

Contact: Diederik Heinink, d.heinink@dif.eu.

 

7 October 2022  |  

Vincent Liu and Kanan Joshi on (digital) infrastructure opportunities in North America | Infrastructure Investor

Managing director Vincent Liu and head of digital infrastructure Kanan Joshi of DIF Capital Partners in North America spoke to Infrastructure Investor about market opportunities in the region.

They elaborated on how both the energy transition as well as the rapid rise and need for digital infrastructure offer lots of room for further growth.

Moreover, Vincent commented on how DIF is also looking beyond traditional renewable energy.

“For example, we are increasingly pursuing opportunities within the ‘energy-as-a-service’ segment, where companies help improve energy efficiency through long-dated concession style contracts. Energy storage, EV-charging and e-fuels are also a part of our strategy.”

Read the whole piece here.

6 September 2022  |  Schiphol

Willem Jansonius in Mid Market Roundtable | Infrastructure Investor September 2022

The magic of the mid-market.

In the 2022 edition of the Infrastructure Investor Mid Market Roundtable DIF’s Head of CIF Willem Jansonius explains why the mid market is such an interesting part of the infrastructure space, continuing to offer highly attractive investment opportunities for the DIF strategies.

To read the complete article, please open Willem Jansonius in Mid Market Roundtable (September 2022)

6 May 2022  |  London

Keynote Interview Caine Bouwmeester in II Energy Transition Report 2022

Infra managers need to take an agile approach to seize the best opportunities in the renewables as well as broader energy transition market.

In the 2022 edition of Infrastructure Investor’s Energy Transition Report, DIF’s Head of Renewable Energy Caine Bouwmeester explains why the renewable energy and energy transition market will continue to show strong growth and what DIF’s approach is to this highly attractive market, offering a wide variety of investment opportunities.

To read the complete article open II Key Note Interview with Caine Bouwmeester