“My father Ritske Bergsma was for over 20 years general manager of AGA Gas in Amsterdam, a subsidiary of the former AGA Sweden. He gave me the advice to study for chartered accountant (in Dutch: RA) after my degree in business administration. I have learned a lot from him, so I started in 1988 as an auditor in the international practice in Amsterdam of the former audit firms Deloitte Haskins & Sells and Coopers & Lybrand. Here I gained my first experience with large international real estate companies where I was closely involved with these clients and their challenges.

After my registration as chartered accountant, the opportunity came in 1992 to switch to the real estate industry and I was appointed as controller of Bouwfonds, a large development company. In 1995 the office fund of ABP (KFN), which had for billions of Dutch office investments, hired me as their financial statutory director. The transfer to the retail property business came in 1997 with my nomination as treasurer of Foruminvest and the responsibility for arranging the financing of large shopping malls.

The entrepreneurship attracted me and in 2000 my companies Ultimo Vastgoed B.V. (http://ultimovastgoed.nl) and Ultimo Management B.V. were founded. Ultimo Vastgoed has developed several shopping centres for the daily needs and standalone supermarkets into a stable retail investment portfolio. Ultimo Management focuses on real estate consulting including the realization of consults and strategies.”