Eduard Driessen
Combining our data insights with the front office’s experience
As Product Owner/Team Lead, Eduard Driessen thrives on the challenges of credit risk and is inspired by the teamwork with his colleagues.
Eduard did a bachelor’s degree in Econometrics in Rotterdam followed by a master’s in Financial Econometrics. He joined Deloitte immediately after graduating. One of his consultancy projects entailed spending six months at ING and he liked it so much that he decided to stay on. “After five years of consultancy work, I was keen to have a more in-depth role. Credit risk appealed to me right from the start because of the ever-changing regulatory situation, so it’s very dynamic. Another thing that attracted me to ING was that I could focus more on the details and work with advanced modelling techniques.”
Insights into risks
“In Credit Risk Modelling, we work on Internal Ratings Based (IRB) models and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS 9) models. I’m Product Owner for the Financial Institutions portfolio. My team is responsible for further developing the IRB models for ING’s outstanding loans with other financial institutions. We use historical data to look for correlations between things like customer behaviour and the probability that they will or won’t be able to repay their loan. This helps us to identify risks and share our insights with our front office colleagues. The final decisions are always based on a combination of our data analysis and the front office’s own customer experiences.”
Well-balanced role
“The role of Product Owner also involves stakeholder management and, in my case, managing the people on the team. Sometimes I would like to have a little more time for programming the models myself, but otherwise I’m very happy with the balance in this role. It’s a position that suits me, and there are plenty of challenges.”
Maximising potential
“But for me, the most important and most inspiring aspect is the team. I love working with people who are competent and also fun, a team of people who energise one another, get on well together and just ‘click’ – and that’s certainly the case here! My team is quite mixed in terms of various nationalities, internal and external colleagues, and is also increasingly diverse in terms of age. Everyone is goal-oriented and wants to maximise their own potential, and that’s a great way to work.”
Interested?
About Eduard
Eduard is an avid hockey player and competed at a high level recreationally for many years. He still plays nowadays – at a somewhat lower level, but no less fanatically – as part of a team with some old friends.