Estimator 17-1 by FAECTOR

volume 17 - issue 1

Econometeric Career Days

page

ECONOMETRIE

Preface

From the president Dear reader, You are looking at the very first Estimator of the academic year 20142015, which means that this is also the first Estimator published under the name of FAECTOR. The exams of the second block are closing in on us, which means that there is already quite a bit to look back on. The first thing that comes to my mind is the name change and that fact that we now have over 1100 members. It was a great milestone to finally surpass the threshold of 1000. We are very proud that Econometrics in Rotterdam continues to grow; hopefully this continues for several years to come. Besides that, it is the end of November and both Feyenoord and Excelsior are still doing well in the Eredivisie. Let’s face it; we haven’t seen that in quite a while. As far as the FAECTOR activities are concerned: you can read all about the past events in this Estimator. Furthermore, all our beloved new active members have already devoted a generous amount of hours to the well-being of the association. Their contribution has not gone unnoticed and we are truly proud to have them on board. For the next couple of weeks we have quite some cool events lined up. There will be a pub quiz, an awesome prom and FYM (Find Your Match!) in January, the LED (Landelijke Econometristendag) will take place in February and from December 1st onwards it is possible once again to apply for one or more of our fabulous new committees. You can read all about these new committees in this Estimator. These committees and events, among other activities such as sports, are an excellent way to give yourself an additional challenge besides your study. Even though Econometrics can be quite demanding at times, it should not turn into an obsession. That’s why I decided to do a board year and I haven’t had a single shred of regret yet. Even though you face more challenges in some weeks than others, I enjoy almost every single moment. To top that off, I am extremely delighted about the people that I started this journey with; my fellow board members really are awesome. I wish you the best of luck with your study and hopefully I can welcome you at one of our activities in the near future. All the best, Bob Muijs President FAECTOR 2014-2015

Table of Contents

volume 17 - issue 1

Who is who? 04 | Estimator Committee

05 | Eerstejaarscommissie 06 | Freshmen Committee

Career 08 | Quantative Finance Tour

14 | International Research Project 22 | Econometric Career Days

Inhouse Day 12 | APG

08 22

13 | Capgemini

Social 10 | PINKWIN

Special 17 | Photo Contest

25 | Chef Veda 26 | Adventures of the 49th board 28 | Econometric Puzzle 33 | Agenda

11 14

Study Section 29 | Educational Committee 30 | Education Board 31 | Graduates

Contact

Room H10-05, www.faector.nl, info@faector.nl

Colofon

Final Editing: Hugo Wolters, Ivan Olthuis, Madalina Moraru, Sian Tee, Susanne Pols, Ying Kid Cheung > Office address: Erasmus University, Room H11-02, P.O. box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, estimator@faector.nl > Aquisition: Bob Maks, phone: 010 - 408 14 39 > Circulation: 1150 copies > Printer: Nuance Print Design/DTP FAECTOR > Estimator is a periodical from FAECTOR

VOLUME 17 ISSUE 1 // ESTIMATOR

FAECTOR

Preface

Preface Estimator Committee We proudly present to you the first Estimator of the academic year 2014-2015!

Dear reader, It is with pride that we present to you the first Estimator of the academic year 2014-2015. To all first years, the Estimator is FAECTORâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quarterly magazine in which you can read about FAECTORâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s social events, activities, trips, and a lot more. It keeps you up to date with our study association and makes you aware of events and opportunities.

What is further covered in this edition includes career-related trips such as the 2014 Quantitative Finance Tour and the Inhouse Days to companies APG respectively Capgemini. On a somewhat more frivolous note, you will however also be read about social events as the Amsterdam Trip, the Almanac Drink, and much more.

With a new academic year comes a new Estimator Committee, and we shall introduce ourselves further in this edition. The same goes for the Freshmen Committee and Eerstejaars Commissie. As you will also be able to read in this edition, the Freshmen Committee has already successfully organized their first event, the Amsterdam Trip.

Enjoy!

Meanwhile, the 49th board has got off to a flying start and has had its constitution. Curious about how they are getting along? Well, details of their adventures thus far are to be found in this Estimator!

The Estimator Committee

4 Join a committee! Become an active member at FAECTOR

Every year FAECTOR hosts multiple events and delivers a big number of publications to their members. From social drinks and parties, publications such as the Estimator, to formal career events with many employers. This can only be made possible with the help of our highly appreciated active

members. These people make everything possible with the supervision and help of the FAECTOR Board. Together, they deliver great events to the members of FAECTOR. In January, we will launch the following committees:

Almanac Committee

LED Committee

As a member of the Almanac Committee, you are responsible for the design and printing of the largest publication of the FAECTOR: the annual almanac. You will be also responsible for choosing a theme, filling the almanac with interesting pieces and bringing to life a small booklet of another great year at the FAECTOR!

ECD Committee

The Econometric Career Days (ECD) is the two-day career event for econometricians at the EUR organised by FAECTOR. The event will start with a grand opening. In the afternoon we will visit the harbor of Rotterdam and offer workshops to students in second year student and higher. The second day consists of cases by companies from all the master directions of econometrics. The whole event will be topped off with a large party! You can find more information at www.ecdrotterdam.nl

In 2016, FAECTOR is responsible for the organisation of the Landelijke Econometristendag (LED). The LED is the biggest recruitment event for Econometrics students in the Netherlands. The LED will give Econometrics students the opportunity to meet with potential employers at company cases, a lunch, a networking drink and a recruitment dinner. The day will be topped off with an amazing party. This is the most prestigious committee that FAECTOR has got to offer. If you are looking for a challenge, this is it.

Lustrum Committee

In 2016, FAECTOR will celebrate its 10th Lustrum. This means that we will host several mind-blowing parties throughout the year. Because it will be the 10th Lustrum, we really want to make it something special. You will have a grand budget to your disposal to organise parties and events like FAECTOR has never seen them before.

IRP Committee 2014-2015

The International Research Project is the most exciting international study trip that has been a longstanding event organised by FAECTOR. This study project consists of two parts. The first part is an internship, which will be arranged by FAECTOR at companies that are interesting for econometricians. After the valuable working experience you will be rewarded with an amazing trip that ventures to a place outside the European Union every year. So if you want to arrange many internships, organise unforgettable trips and if you work hard, play hard then this committee is one you should consider applying for.

Advertisements IT Committee

The IT Committee of FAECTOR consists of some talented econometricians who support the board with all tasks having to do with Information Technology. The IT-Committee is determined to innovate the IT of our association as good as possible this year.

Colofon

QFT Committee

The Quantitative Finance Tour (QFT) is the investment banking tour for quantitative students in the Netherlands. This tour provides 24 students with a technical background, such as econometrics, a chance to become an investment banker for one week in Londen, the City. Do you think you have the right set of skills, devotion and are you looking for an internship or graduate position at one of the largest investment banks of the world?! Then the QFT is the right event for you! For more information about the tour, visit our website www.qft.nl

For more information visit faector.nl/join-a-committee or send an e-mail to info@faector.nl. On the 6th of Januari FAECTOR will host a Committee Interest Drink at the FAECTOR room. This is an excellent opportunity to aks all about the committees.

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FAECTOR FAECTOR

Who is who?

Estimator Committee

Hi! This academic year I’ll be the supervisor of the Estimator Committee. The Estimator Committee, that you will learn to know on this page, makes it possible that you are reading some great stories. All my fellow committee members are both enthusiastic and dedicated to rock each Estimator. We will tell you all the ins and outs of the FAECTOR events and we will try to make perfect and funny photos of you during our events. We are looking forward to show all of the Estimators of this academic year to you. Note! If you made some hilarious photos during our events and you like to share them with us in de next Estimator, please send an e-mail to: estimator@faector.nl. Thanks!

Hello, my name is Hugo Wolters. I am 19 years old and a second year BSc2 student. I am originally from The Hague but have been living in Rotterdam for over a year now. Yes, I do occasionally miss Scheveningen beach, but during the past year I discovered that Rotterdam is a modern city with a lot to offer. A major hobby of mine is jogging

Hi! My name is Sian and I’m a first-year BSc2 student. I was born and raised in Delft, which is between Rotterdam and The Hague. But more important, this year I’ll be writing for your favourite magazine out there: the Estimator. I’m really looking forward to this year as part of the Estimator Committee and I hope you’ll enjoy reading our articles as much as we enjoyed writing them. As a freshman, I haven’t been a FAECTOR member for that long, so I’d like to get to know as many of you as possible this year. That’s why you’ll be seeing me during many events organised by my dear FAECTOR-colleagues. So, when you see me at one of the many drinks, be nice to me and buy me a beer or two, because I might just be the one selecting the photos for the next Estimator…

My name is Ivan Olthuis and I am 20 years old. I recently started the master Quantitative Logistics, and I have been studying Econometrics and Operations Research for the past three years. I was born and raised in the Netherlands, in a small village named Strijen. This year, I joined the Estimator Committee, because I wanted to train my writing skills in English, and because I wanted to do something else besides studying Econometrics and meet new people by doing so. For this year, I hope we have some nice and fun activities, and I hope you will enjoy reading (or just looking at the photos) the Estimators of this year!

Hi, my name is Madalina and I’m in my third year of Econometrics. I am 21 years old and I am from Romania. I live in Rotterdam for more than 2 years now and I think moving here was the best decision so far. I enjoy my time here more than I expected and I’m having a lot of fun outside University as well, mostly chilling and partying with friends. I chose to study Econometrics mostly because of the easy courses and all the free time that I can take advantage of. Being part of an International program is a great experience. Even though most of the students in my year are Dutch, it still keeps itself diverse. You may know me from last year when I was a part of the Activities Committee, but this year I thought I should broaden my experience and join the Estimator Committee, so I hope you all enjoy reading our magazine!

around the Kralingse Plas, which I can assure you is a great way to relax, especially after a few hours of studying statistics or calculus or actually anything to do with Econometrics. I am always in to drink a couple of beers, so you definitely will see me around at our social drinks. I look forward to seeing you all there!

Hi, my name is Ying Kid Cheung and I am 20 years old. I have been studying since 2012, so it is my third year as an econometrics student. This study is a nice combination of economics and especially mathematics, that’s why I chose this study. I was born in the Netherlands and used to live in a small town called Wijk bij Duurstede, near Utrecht.

Since I have lived in Rotterdam, I enjoy every day in this second largest city of the Netherlands. The reason I applied for this committee was to meet new people and to broaden my window. I hope you will enjoy reading this and coming issues of the Estimator and I will probably see you in one of the drinks or other events which FAECTOR organises.

Who is who?

Eerstejaarscommissie

The Eerstejaarscommissie consists of motivated first year Dutch Econometrics students, who are responsible for organising several tournaments, such as the pool and the poker tournament. Besides that they made sure at the beginning of this year that all active members had a delicious meal during the Active Members Dinner. Furthermore, in January the committee will be organising an event together with the international counterpart of this committee. However, the greatest part of this committee is organising the introduction camp PINKWIN for the new first year students next summer!

Dear members, Our names are Britt and Eva, and we are both in our second year of econometrics. Some of you might already know or recognize us from activities and drinks, as we were already EC members last year. This means that together with Felix we will lead the Eerstejaarscommissie this year, which we’re very excited about! With a new group of enthusiastic first year students we’re going to organize a lot of tournaments and activities this year and hopefully we will see you all at one of them!

Hello everyone! My name is Anke Clerx and I am 18 years old. I am a first year Dutch econometrics student and a member of the Eerstejaarscommissie. I moved to Rotterdam two months ago, but I used to live in Maastricht. In my spare time I like to spend time with my friends, shop, watch the newest episode of one of my favourite series or go for a run. I hope to see all of you at one of our events!

My name is Gerben van der Schaaf. I’m a member of the First Year Committee. The reason I chose to become an active member of FAECTOR is because I wanted to do something more than just studying. I come from a paradise called Wilnis, it’s a very small village beneath Amsterdam. I’m looking forward to this year of getting to know a lot of new people, studying econometrics, and of course organising a lot of events for the members of FAECTOR. I’ll hope to see you there!

Hi! My name is Jitte Dingenouts. I am 18 years old and live in Dordrecht. This year I started the study Econometrics. I really love going out and having fun with my friends. Besides this, I also play ‘korfbal’ which is a little bit the same as basketball. When I have enough time, I work at ‘Ames Autobedrijf BV’ as a hostess. I really like this job. I love to party and I hope you love to party too! Because the ‘Eerstejaarscommissie’ is responsible for the activities for the first year students. So I hope to see you at all the activities! See you then!

Hi! I’m Lotte Harryvan and I’m a first year econometrics student. I’m 19 years old and used to live with my parents in Hillegom (nearby Haarlem). I now have my own apartment in Kralingen, which I share with two roommates. I really like being a member of the EC, because I can do something for my fellow students. I also joined Laurentius. I think being a member of Laurentius is a good addition to my student life. It gives you livelong friendships and it can help you to find contacts that are useful in your future.

Hi, I’m Olivier. I’m 18 years old and I’m from Utrecht. I don’t live in Rotterdam yet, but I’m planning to do so as soon as possible. I started studying this year and I haven’t joined a student association, but I have become a member of the Eerstejaarscommissie, which I’m enjoying a lot. Next year I’d like to join a student association as well, but I haven’t decided which one I’ll join. In my leisure time, I like meeting with friends, playing hockey and of course I enjoy the activities with the awesome FAECTOR people.

My name is Stefan Mihailovic. I am born and raised in Leidschendam, which is a city next to The Hague. My parents are from Serbia, and they raised me and my brother with the Serbian language so I am a native speaker in both Dutch and Serbian. I went to high school in The Hague, which is the city were I spent the most time. Apart from school, I did a lot of sports, but basketball was my favorite one. Right now, I am also a member of a student association, where I would have a great time apart from my studies.

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FAECTOR

Who is who?

Freshmen Committee

Hey everyone! Besides being a committee that can be defined as ‘gezellig’ and interactive, it’s also a committee that organises several great events. It organises both lasertag and the beer pong tournament, which are both great successes on a yearly basis. Next to that, these students of the international bachelor help welcome their new international successors at the PENGUIN weekend. This year’s Freshmen Committee is a great group of international freshmen, being both a fun group as a capable group. I’m more than looking forward to supervising this committee and seeing you all at their events!

Hi! My name is Milena Zychlinsky Scharff and I am the chairman of this year’s Freshmen Committee. I am a German-American second year international student. As a member of last year’s FC I had a great time planning the activities such as Beer Pong, Laser Tag and of course PENGUIN weekend. The goal of the FC is to create fun events for the Freshmen, as well as the entire association! I hope everybody enjoys the activities as much as we enjoy planning them!

Hey everybody! My name is Alicia Curth, I am 18 years old and come from Hanover, Germany. Having always disliked the idea of studying in (boring) Germany, I decided to come to Rotterdam this year for the international econometrics programme in order to get to know a new country. Generally I am an open, sportive (passionate for waterpolo and running) and communicative person. Being a member of the freshmen comittee, I hope to share my journey of learning to live in The Netherlands with as many internationals as possible – by means

Hi everybody! My name is Sebastian Snijders and I am a first year student of the BSc2 programme. Besides that, I’m a member of the Freshmen Committee of 2014. Because student life should not only revolve around studying, the Freshmen Committee has been created to organize events where you can have fun with your fellow classmates outside of the classroom. We are trying our best to come up with loads of interesting things for the coming year and I look forward to seeing you guys at our activities.

Hey everybody, My name is Artiom and I am a first years econometrics student. I was born in Russia, lived in Israel for a while and then moved to the Netherlands, where I have lived for the past 10 years. I am a member of the Freshmen Committee this year and together we will organize events for mainly our fellow freshmen. I hope everyone enjoys the events as much as we will enjoy organizing them!

Hey peeps, my name is Cynthia Yang. I was born in Taiwan 18 years ago, but I grew up in the Dutch city Eindhoven! Living in Rotterdam has been awesome, as well as being part of the Freshmen Committee. I’m excited to meet you all at the upcoming events and I hope everyone will have a great time!

Hi there! I am Anne de Weerdt, 18 years old, from a small village below Rotterdam called Strijen. My favorite activities are baking, reading and speed skating. Next to that I really enjoy organizing events, and having fun with friends, therefore I joined the Freshmen Committee! We’ll be organizing events for our fellow international students, but also for the Dutch students ;). My main goal as a member of the FC: provide a lot of fun experiences for my fellow students!

Hi guys, my name is Thomas! I am a BSc² student and a happy member of this years Freshmen Committee! I’m looking forward to all the great memories we’ll make at the various activities organized by us and other committees of FAECTOR. Good luck with your studies and see you all soon!

CAREER

Quantitative Finance Tour

QFT

After months of preparations the Quantitative Finance Tour started with our visit to Rabobank in Utrecht on the 19th of September. Our group consisted of 24 students, most of them were Econometricians from Rotterdam or students from Delft University of Technology, but we also had a clever guy from Zurich among us. At Rabobank we were welcomed with a presentation from Coert Beerman, Director Wholesale Netherlands and Africa. After which we did a game of “Koehandel”, a very fitting game for Rabobank with its agricultural roots. Our day at Rabobank ended with a The second bank we visited was Kempen & Co at the Zuidas in Amsterdam on the 25th of September. Here John Hak, the CEO of Kempen & Co, welcomed us, who just like many of the group studied econometrics in Rotterdam. After his presentation we got a tour over the trading floor, where we learned everything about the Chinese wall, which at Kempen is literally a wall between the two sides of the trading floor that prevents conflicts of interest. The rest of the day we did a case where we had to convince investors with our view on the marine/offshore market. The day ended with drinks in Kempen’s bar the Sun. On Sunday the 28th of September we would finally go to London, at least we thought

until our flight with CityJet (“the investment banker’s choice”) turned out to be cancelled due to a shortage of staff. This was remarkable since CityJet flies with tiny Fokker 50s, which are the size of a large bus. The group unfortunately had to be split in two groups, one going the same evening, but then from Amsterdam and one going the next morning from Rotterdam. When everyone had arrived we visited Deutsche Bank on Monday afternoon. There we had presentations of many senior Dutch employees of Deutsche Bank and among others two MDs (managing directors for the outsiders). We also did a fun but little chaotic trading game. The winners of this game were rewarded with a private tour at the Amsterdam office of Deutsche Bank.

networking drink, but for part of the group this was only the beginning of the night and they had a nice dinner and some drinks afterwards in the exciting city of Utrecht.

The afternoon ended with a networking drink in a fancy bar, which went on for long. The next morning we had some spare time and Mariam was so nice to give us a free tour through London. During this tour Krispijn and Wouter had an epiphany and invented their own futures market. They created a market for the amount of participants that would pull an all-nighter at our final evening. Everyone could buy or sell futures for the amount of people that they expected to stay up on our final night and Krispijn and Wouter were the market makers. Already during that first day some people got the feeling of what it’s like to be

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a real banker and made a profit through arbitrage. In the afternoon we visited Barclays at Canary Wharf. Here we were split in groups and had to work out an investment case to get more insight in the work of a salesman. We had to present this case to representatives of Barclays, who really tested our knowledge about the case. After the case we had a panel Q&A so we were able to fire some questions back. This day also ended with a social drink and the group members meanwhile had developed into experienced networkers which resulted in many business cards (the QFT participants had their own) being exchanged. FAECTOR

CAREER

Quantitative Finance Tour The next morning we visited J.P. Morgan, where we were welcomed by Guy America, head of global Credit and in the top 25 of most influential people within J.P. Morgan. What his name does not reveal is that he is actually Dutch and studied at Erasmus University. Within his role he was in the middle of the financial crisis but also in many crises before and he was able to tell us much about them. After several more interesting presentations we ended the morning with a nice networking lunch. At the end of this lunch we visited Societe Generale. The atmosphere at this French bank was notably more relaxed compared to the American J.P. Morgan. This afternoon started with a presentation from Jan de Bondt, Managing Director FIC Sales. He told about the history of investment banking and his own career path at various banks in a very interesting way. Later this was explained by the fact that he is also a teacher. This afternoon ended very French with wine at the office, which was followed by more drinks at a bar nearby the office. That evening we went to

the rooftop bar of Sushi Samba for cocktails with a great view on the City. Here we also celebrated the birthday of Mark and made him very happy with several shots. On Thursday afternoon, after a good night of sleep, we visited Credit Suisse. Here we got a presentation with many metaphors such a cocktail for a structured product. During this presentation also the most difficult questions were asked, like how do you make a Martini? This presentation was followed by a trading game. This game did not turn out to be a zero-sum game, which meant that some groups must have cheated but at least it made almost everyone a winner. The next morning was already our final day to visit banks, but (almost) last but not least we visited Goldman Sachs. Their building was more modest than expected and did not even have their name on the door. We had a presentation about Markets where we were challenged with tough questions and brainteasers. Of

course, when you perform well you are rewarded accordingly. Unfortunately Goldman Sachs was not allowed to give us money for correct answers, but they gave us chocolate medals instead. This game was followed by a presentation from their M&A division. They told about their work for KPN and how they handled the hostile takeover from America Movil. After this interesting story we were invited for the networking lunch. Here we had the chance to meet more people from Goldman Sachs.

“That

evening we went to the rooftop bar of Sushi Samba for cocktails with a great view on the City.”

Then we headed to BNP Paribas for our final visit. After a presentation from HR we were divided into groups for Q&A rounds with quants and a tour over their large trading floor. This visit ended with a nice

social drink on their terrace with a view on the City. After this final visit it was time to party, which everyone deserved after an intensive week: work hard, play hard! After our dinner we went to the popular Tiger Tiger, the local version of Beurs and Hollywood combined. Here we had a table with a bucket full of bottles and enjoyed our final night. The next morning we had to go back to the Netherlands with a huge headache. Luckily CityJet had enough crew this time and we arrived safely in Rotterdam. Now it is to be seen who really becomes an investment banker and earns an internship! If you are interest in the next edition of QFT, follow us on Facebook and/or visit www.qft. nl. The applications will open in the beginning of May 2015 and the next edition will visit London in September 2015. We will also be recruiting for next year’s committee in January 2015. Ewout Bosch

SOCIAL

Introduction Camp

PINKWIN A month before University starts a small group of the Dutch Freshmen gather in a scouting camp in Capelle aan den IJssel. PINKWIN is about to begin and everyone is looking excited to start a new chapter in their lives. Most of the Freshmen are

already asking all kinds of questions about the programme, because it wasn’t very clear online. In the next few days they discovered it wasn’t just playing games and getting to know each other.

It all started with a few games to help us remember each other’s name. We did this for a couple of hours but in the end it was totally worth it because knowing each other’s name

known as Koehandel, was very popular during PINKWIN. When we were finished eating the wonderful diner Harrie prepared for us, it was time for some teambuilding. It was time to start the raft competition, this meant all the Freshmen were going to build rafts with nothing but barrels, some tree trunks, a lot of rope and a determined attitude. They were meant to cover a certain distance and keep as many people as possible outside the water. The team that would finish last had to clean the bathrooms after everyone had showered. According to the facial expressions of the guides it was quite a show. On the first evening there was a lot to talk about for the Freshmen and they had a great time.

from the start made everything a lot easier. After this some people went playing some football, others just talked or maybe played a board game, You’re Bluffing, otherwise

“It

all started with a few games to help us remember each other’s name.”

The next morning everybody had to get up early because it was time to visit a company called Ortec Finance. After this interesting visit, which included a great lunch, it was time to play a game of crazy 88. This pretty much meant a competition between several groups of who could make the biggest fool outta them self in public and record it. The guides made a beautiful compilation of the most tremendous and crazy content available, this created a lot of laughter while watching this compilation that evening. After this we played VOLUME 17 ISSUE 1 // ESTIMATOR

Charades for a couple of hours. This wasn’t that easy due the fact that the guides made us guess animals like the Loch Ness Monster or a vibra-tor. That following night everyone really got along with each other, there was a lot of chatting and playing games till late into the night. After breakfast the next day we visited the campus of the University for a small tour and a lecture about econometrics and in particular statistics. The freshmen thought this was really interesting because the lecture showed how math sometimes can be in contradiction with your intuition. In the afternoon we visited the most famous pubs of Rotterdam and we talked with some older students about the programme and the life of a student. After a while everyone went to the scouting camp for a nice barbeque. In the evening it was time for the big ending of the camp, Harrie’s play. Harrie would be the producer of a romantic play where all the rolls are given to the freshmen. The story is about the forbidden love between a princess and a farmer and how the King (Harrie) keeps them apart. It really was a blast. After a great and long night filled with laughter, it was the end of a very nice week. The next morning everybody had to help cleaning and then it was time to say goodbye and to look forward to the Eurekaweek and the start of thr programme on the 1st of September. Gerben van der Schaaf

FAECTOR

SOCIAL

Introduction Day

Freshmen Day On the 10th of September our new international freshmen came together for the annual Freshmen Day. The day after, on the 11th of September, our Dutch first-year students also had their traditional Eerstejaardag. Both days had the same simple, but nonetheless very successful formula: econometricians plus food and bowling equal lots of fun and excitement. We started with a dinner at Bennie Beer, where we got to choose between sweet and spicy spareribs, delicious sate or a fresh salad. After the first couple of weeks of hard working we all craved for some calorie-dense, protein-rich, fatty food, so all plates were finished in no time.

“ Econometricians

plus food and bowling equal lots of fun and excitement.”

After we were all fuelled and ready to go, we went to the

restaurant’s neighbour, the bowling club. There, everybody showed off their bowling skills, or at least, tried to do so. Our president showed us who the boss is by making one strike after the other and he might want to consider a career switch in case econometrics doesn’t work out in the end, but another board member should maybe just stick to FAECTOR’s finances and buying penthouses (sorry Diederik, my bowling skills are not much better than yours). Thanks to or in spite of our level of bowling skills we all had a great day together and it was a perfect way to better get to know our fellow students. Sian Tee

CAREER

Inhouse Day

APG

On Wednesday the 24th of September FAECTOR visited APG in the city of Amsterdam. APG manages the pensions of among others civil servants and teachers. With over 390 billion euros of assets, APG manages the biggest amount of assets of all the pension funds in the Netherlands. After a trip of more than an hour, we arrived at the Amsterdam South railway station. The area, in which APG is located, is a business district commonly known as the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Zuidasâ&#x20AC;?. Once we had left the station, we saw on the left side the ABN Amro headquarters. In front of us, we saw a tall yellowish building, the APG building. The inhouse day started with a brief presentation about APG by a senior portfolio manager in a conference room on the 19th floor. Something I did not know until then, is that APG has small offices in New York and Hong

Kong. Then we had lunch. During the lunch we had the possibility to talk with trainees and other employees of APG. After the delicious lunch we had a guided tour through the tremendous building. In the dealing room we had the opportunity to talk with a trader. He told us what he does throughout the day. In contrast to our expectation on the trading floor, it was a quiet room with traders behind their desks. On another floor we talked with an employee, who manages together with his team, over a billion euros of

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assets. He told that the beauty of his job is that APG do invest in the right assets. Because it is pension money, APG could not invest in weapons or something like that.

group with the highest return won the game and received a portable USB charger for the mobile phone. Congratulations to Diederik, Kim, Ricardo and Zi-Zhao.

Then we played an allocation game. In groups of four, we had to make decisions on how we should divide our assets into the investing possibilities. Taking into account the news that was developing during the game, we had to make a choice whether or not change our investment strategy. The

After the allocation game, we went to the bar inside the APG building on the ground floor. There we had a drink with some employees of APG we met throughout the day. I think we had a good insight of APG and thanks to APG for having us. Ying Kid Cheung

FAECTOR

CAREER

Capgemini

Inhouse Day

On Friday the 26th of September FAECTOR went to Capgemini Consulting in the city of Utrecht. Capgemini Consulting is a subdivision of Capgemini and is one of the biggest management consulting companies in Europe. The day started with a lunch in Capgemini’s recently opened headquarters. As it is always interesting to have a chat with some employees, some of them came to the lunch. Then we had a short presentation about Capgemini Consulting and in particularly the risk management division. Not everyone was aware of this, because Capgemini is best known for its IT consultancy. After the presentation we had a case which gave us an insight of the main tasks of a consultant. We were divided in groups of three. Using some factors like post code, income, gender, income, income class, etc. we had to estimate the probability whether someone will default or not. We had to solve this case

within an hour. Since many of us have never used regression analysis in Excel (they had no more sophisticated programs), there was a bit of a time pressure. Luckily, everyone had results at the end. Afterwards we get a short break.

”Sometimes an easy model is the best way to get the best predictions.”

Like real consultants, every group has to present their results. They had to explain which factors they included in their model. Most of us used regression, but surprisingly the group who has not yet followed the econometrics 1

and 2 courses has the best predictions. Sometimes an easy model is the best way to get the best predictions. After the case the group was split in three smaller groups. Every group has ten minutes to speak one employee who talked about the experiences of their job. When ten minutes were over, the groups get another employee to talk with. One of them told us that the risk management a growing market. She studied chemical technology and thereafter switched to a whole different industry. Another employee said that the career opportunities are great, because Capgemini is a multinational you could give your career a boost at a other department. There is also the possibility to work abroad!

Then we get a short tour through the building. The office mostly consists of flexplaces. So no one has their own workplace, but instead you could choose where to work. There are different kinds of workplaces, from ordinary desks to benches. Because most of Capgemini’s employees spend their time at their client, most offices look unoccupied. At the end of the inhouse day we had a drink with some employees. It was a very informative day and I think we gain a good insight of this multinational. Ying Kid Cheung

CAREER

International Research Project

IRP

On Tuesday the 22nd of July, the IRP group of 2014 embarked on their epic trip to South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. After a tiring but luxurious trip with everyone’s favourite airline Emirates, we finally arrived at Incheon International Airport. Anyanhaseoh Korea baby! We met our tour guide Honey, who was obviously very sweet, and brought us to our more than fine hotel. It is important to note that we did not have cold toilet seats in our midnight toilet breaks as the rooms were equipped with an electric toilet and warmed toilet seats, awesome! We went to Seoul National University the following day and had our first taste of the respectful and open Korean culture, as they were very welcoming and even bought us Korean style pizza. Koreans are by far the most respectful people I have ever met, period. After the university visit, we made our way to the Seoul N-Tower. The view from the top of the sightseeing tower was

splendid. Our last scheduled event for the day was the Nanta performance, which was fun to watch. Finally, we went for some drinks in the rainy weather all the way in Itaewon and this basically showed as the lows of the Korean nightlife. However, this was also a memorable cab ride back home as I recall a certain person only being able to continue for 6 more meters before puking. After a good night of sleep we went to visit Samsung D-light in the Gangnam district, which was hosted a friend of Professor Dekker, who was in Seoul for his holidays. Talk about hospitality! After we knew everything about Samsung he brought us to a traditional Korean dinner, where many of

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the participants changed into nagging crybabies because of the food. Farmer doesn’t know, farmer doesn’t eat, pussies. The next day was filled with a visit to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with our ex-CEO of a local Korean bank tour guide. Too bad the weather was too bad and some parts of the tour were cancelled, but it was pretty awesome. This evening would become the most epic clubbing experience of the entire IRP trip as we went to DJ Mag’s 8 best club in the world, Octagon baby! The next day would be a tough one for the people that went clubbing the night before, but totally worth it though. City tour with Honey where we visited the Royal Palace, some

temples and the shopping centre Dongdaemun. Finally we had some Korean BBQ in the evening, as this was our last night. Also, the entire Korea trip was experienced with Soju everywhere. The next day we woke up early for our six hours flight to Kuala Lumpur. Shiva, our local guide for Malaysia, with a typical Indian accent, picked us up. Some of us liked this very much, whereas others were a bit tired of the flight and did not really appreciate this. At the end of the day we arrived at the hotel and after a quick break we went out to have dinner. A tip of the guide was to ask the local people for the shortcut to the mall. So we did and we ended up being lost in the parking

FAECTOR

CAREER

International Research Project garage. It turned out there was a random door, which led us to the centre of the mall, and there we had a nice dinner. After dinner the girls went shopping as always, because the mall was open until 10PM every day!

”After

lots of fun, we all returned dirty, muddy and sweaty.”

The first thing on our programme the next day was a city tour. This started at the Chinese temple, with gigantic statues and turtles. Our next stop was the national monument, followed up by the national mosque, the freedom square and last but not least we visited the Supreme king at his palace. In the afternoon we did a reallife escape room game. A short explanation for the escape room dummies: Real-life escape room games are a type of physical adventure game in which people are locked in a room with other participants and have to use elements of the room to solve a series of puzzles, find clues, and escape the room within a set time limit. Of course we, bright students, finished them within the time (UHM). We were amazed how well set up and joyful this game was. In the neighbourhood of Kuala Lumpur we went to the famous Batu Caves. These are one of the most famous Hindu shrines

outside of India. Unfortunately for some, to reach it, visitors must climb a steep flight of 272 steps. On the way we had some troubles with monkey who attempted to steal our food. Afterwards we visited the templar waterfall park, where we enjoyed the beauty of the rainforests and the refreshments of the waterfalls. Since we liked the real-life escape room so much, we decided to play it again at another mall with other rooms. This mall was quite amazing, even with an indoor attraction park! In the night we visited the highest rooftop bar, restaurant and lounge in Malaysia, Marini’s on 57. Here we had some predrinks and pre-cocktails for the girls, before we went clubbing in club Zouk, one of coolest places to be after midnight. After a hangover morning we had to hurry to visit the Petronas Twin Towers. With this tour we went to the sky bridge and the observation platform on the 86th floor. We had an amazing view, but unfortunately they are going to close the observation deck in the future due to the floors occupied by offices. The main reason we did wake up this morning was our activity in the afternoon, namely an ATV (quad) tour. First we had a trial course to get used to riding such a monster, but afterwards we went into the jungle with our quads. We reached awesome speeds, went through small rivers, had to dodge trees for the tall guys and we arrived at a beautiful waterfall for a break.

After lots of fun, we all returned dirty, muddy and sweaty. This was our last day in Kuala Lumpur, an amazing city we will never forget! We continued our journey with a private tour bus and for the next three days we stayed at Port Dickson for a relaxing time with sun, sea and beach. We had chalets on the sea, with our own Jacuzzi and balcony. Here we spent the days going to the beach jet skiing, banana boating, playing football on the beach with local children, eating hamburgers and tanning. We also enjoyed the pool of our hotel, where we played several ball games. For dinner some of us discovered the pizza hut and others the sushi restaurant, furthermore we also found a nice Chinese restaurant with delicious crab. The road trip continued to Malacca, an historical Portuguese settlement. We immediately had a city tour, where we visited an old Dutch chapel and ‘Stadthuys’ and a Portuguese fort. This city is also known for its heavily decorated rickshaws, which were funny to see. The afternoon was spent at the pool or in the mall. For dinner we went to

the Portuguese district and we could choose between eight Portuguese restaurants, which all looked totally the same. But according to the people who worked there, one was much better than the other, so we were almost attacked by the restaurant stuffers. Eventually we had a nice meal with really good fish! In the evening some guys went to the famous Hard Rock Café to have some predrinks before they went to a club. In this club they managed to buy a bottle of Vodka five minutes before closing time, so they had two choices or chug the whole bottle in five minutes or leave it behind. Now that choice was easily made… The next morning was for most people horrible. So half the group didn’t go to the Kampung Tour the next morning. Here we saw the traditional houses and customs. Furthermore Eric, Jeanne and Isabelle had to be sarong models for a few minutes, so the tour guide could show us how to wear it. Most of us wanted to taste the traditional Malacca kitchen, that’s why we went to Baba & Nyonya’s for dinner. In the restaurant they also performed traditional dances while we were eating.

CAREER

International Research Project

Now it was time for our final destination, Singapore! Sadly we first had to go through customs at the Malaysian border. This border is known as one of the strictest borders, since Singapore has very strong laws concerning drugs. Luckily we passed this border and finally we could go to the hotel we had been looking forward to the whole trip: The Marina Bay Sands. This 5 star hotel is known for its amazing infinity pool, houses the largest casino in the world, has an indoor skating ring and two famous clubs. Furthermore they have a shopping mall with a canal, which runs through the length of the Shoppes, in the same style as the Venetian in Las Vegas and the largest Louis Vuitton boutique in the world. This day we spent chilling at the infinity pool and in the Jacuzzi. This we night some went to the casino and the others to the skybar at the skypark for some drinks, good music and a great view at midnight.

”Finally

we could go to the hotel we had been looking forward to the whole trip: The Marina Bay Sands.”

Unfortunately we had to leave this amazing hotel and for the last four nights of our trip we went to a slightly less luxurious accommodation in Little India.

This day we went to the National University of Singapore to see how student life is in Singapore. The campus is so big that we had to use the campus bus to get from one place to another. A very nice lady gave us a tour around a part of the campus and we got really jealous, they have an infinity swimming pool, a great gym, a climbing wall, lots of restaurants including a McDonald’s and much more! After the sightseeing we listened to lectures of two professors of the NUS, which were very interesting. The next day it was serious business, we were going to visit two companies; ABN AMRO and Flow Traders. The office of ABN AMRO is located in two different buildings in the Banking Centre. We visited both locations and had about eight different speakers, which told us about their departments in ABN AMRO. They told us among others about Commercial Banking, Clearing, Debt Solutions, Energy, Financial Institutions Group, Transportation and Private Banking. After a long time sitting still and listen attentively we went to the more informal Flow Traders located in another huge building. The first thing they gave us when we arrived was pizza to satisfy our appetites; as of they could read our minds. During our lunch they told us about Flow Traders in Singapore and we could ask

everything we wanted. Also in Singapore they have the best relaxation resources for during their breaks and after work hours. So some guys played FIFA, others played on the pinball machines or challenged each other to a game of pool. Besides that they had enough beer and chicken wings to make it a very fun time. After a whole day acting like grownups it was now time for some more adventure and be a little kid again, the Adventure Cove Waterpark! We zoomed down thrilling waterslides such as Southeast Asia’s first hydromagnetic coaster. We chilled at the Bluwater Bay wave pool and we grabbed a tube for the journey down Adventure River, passing through 14 stunning scenes including a tropical jungle garden and a grotto inhabited by whimsical

sea creatures. After a lot of water fun we rushed back to the city centre to watch the amazing Singapore Fireworks Celebrations, which is an annual event held in Singapore as part of its National Day celebrations. It features several local and foreign teams, which launch fireworks displays. That evening some of us went to a club to party hard for the last time this trip. The last day of our great journey everybody did something they still wanted to do in Singapore. Some of us went shopping at among others the famous Orchard Road, others went to Universal Studios at Sentosa Island. That evening we had our nice last dinner together at a cozy little restaurant. For our flight back to the Netherlands we had to get up very earlier and had to say goodbye to Jeanne, who we left behind in Singapore because she is going to travel for a year in Asia. And this is how our awesome, fun, crazy, incredible, surprising, insane and wonderful journey ended. As the IRP Committee we want to thank all the participants for the amazing time together. We think everybody experienced this adventure as a once in a lifetime journey! Eric Slob, Hao Zhou, Isabelle Indeweij Gerlings

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FAECTOR

17 17 PHOTO CONTEST In the last Estimator, there was a photo contest and we give away a price of ten drinks to the winner of each categories. This summer some fanatic people take pictures with the FAECTOR sticker all over the world. They have made FAECTOR globally known! We

would thank you for the participation and the creative submissions. It was a hard decision, but we proudly present to you the winners of the categories:

As far as possible The winner of the category As far as possible is Isabelle! Together with the IRP participants, she made FAECTOR known in SouthKorea.

Funniest picture

The winner of the category Funniest picture is Job! This picture speaks for itself.

Most econometric picture The winner of the category Most econometric picture is Ruud! Four guys with econometric knowledge on one photo. Now that FAECTOR have marked the Scotland territory as well, lets hope it wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just be known for their Scoth.

SOCIAL

Trip

Amsterdam Trip After struggling through and, hopefully, surviving their first block of econometrics, it was finally time for our freshmen to join the yearly FAECTOR Amsterdam Trip. It was a beautiful, sunny day filled with lots of fun activities in our capital Amsterdam. In the early morning of what turned out to be the warmest November 1st in Dutch history, about 20 freshmen gathered at Rotterdam Centraal to leave for Amsterdam. The Dutch capital is world-famous for its rich history and culture and has lots of internationally highly regarded museums, so on a trip to Amsterdam we couldn’t skip the most highly regarded of them all: the Sex Museum. This museum showed us, in a quite

explicit manner, thousands of years of sexual history, which was sometimes interesting, but mostly gross or just simply hilarious and weird. Either way, this is a place you have to visit at least once when you go to Amsterdam. After so much cultural enlightenment we all got hungry, so it was a good time for our lunch of the day, which we had on board of the

‘Pannenkoekenboot’. While sailing the IJ River, we could eat as many pancakes as we wished, which we could decorate with a huge selection of toppings to choose from. After we were done eating, we enjoyed the rest of the boat trip on the deck, sitting under the warm sun and enjoying the great view over Amsterdam.

“A

trip to Amsterdam isn’t complete without visiting the worldfamous and notorious Red Light District.”

Back on the mainland of Amsterdam, we headed towards the ‘Cannabis College’, an information centre on cannabis in the middle of the centre. Here we were introduced into the history, biology, politics and culture behind Amsterdam’s most famous export product and we got to see some real weed plants. The volunteers enthusiastically told us everything we needed to know about their favourite plant and how it can be used, not only as a drug, but also for example

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as a material to make clothes from. After this ‘lecture’ some tried to bring theory to practice during their free time, others just wandered around Amsterdam to see what more it has to offer, which is way too much to see all in just three hours of course. After exploring Amsterdam on our own, we came together again for dinner to eat away our munchies with a delicious pizza or fresh pasta. A trip to Amsterdam isn’t complete without visiting the world-famous and notorious Red Light District, so after our dinner we took the metro and met up with our tour guide who knows all the ins and outs of Amsterdam’s most ‘in-yourface’ neighbourhood. There are a lot of stories to tell about the Red Light District and we heard many of them during this interesting tour that took us along all the canals and narrow alleys of the Wallen. It was a long and tiring, but most of all, a great day, thanks to the perfect weather, the fun people and the fantastic work of the Freshmen Committee. Sian Tee

FAECTOR

SOCIAL

Social Drink

Almanac Drink On the 30th of October it was time for our first post-examination drink of the academic year. As always, it was held at Divoza and turn-out among FAECTOR members was high. The atmosphere was best to be described as “gezellig”, especially as we progressed throughww the night with members heavily making use of the 50-cent beer. Many first-years were still Yet the night’s most discussed topic was the 2014-2015 Almanac, to which this social drink was devoted. Members were eager to queue in order to obtain one of the highly coveted almanacs. The amount of time the Almanac Committee devoted to the almanac is

“Members

were surprised to see how the “out of the box” theme was constantly referred to.”

evident, with the impressively original messages which the Amanac Committee wrote in every person’s almanac being the cherry on the cake. Members were surprised to see how the “out of the box” theme

discussing their first exams at university and how they were constantly checking their e-mail for that, hopefully, relieving message from SIN-Online with their grade. Other than that, the widest ranges of topics you can imagine were addressed, from Halloween parties to one’s plans for Christmas to that topic which binds us all, Econometrics.

was constantly referred to, starting with the almanac’s physical structure and colour. Personally, I found the climax of the almanac to be pg. 136-137, where the Almanac Committee gives us step-by-step instructions to build our own box: so simple but yet so strikingly original! Others had a good laugh about the “ATTENTION: FRAGILE” message written on the almanac’s cover, or about reading how some lecturers were, contrary to popular belief, not the best students themselves.

“The

almanac’s “puzzled” pages revealed the particularly talented among us.”

The night was by no means over once all members were satisfied with their almanac. The almanac’s “puzzled” pages revealed the particularly talented among us, after which these eggheads were congratulated with yet another beer by their fellow students. There was lots of interaction between older and newer members despite differences in

study-year, which was pleasing to see and added to the agreeable atmosphere. All in all, the Almanac drink proved to be a success and on behalf of all members, I would hereby like to thank the Almanac Committee for their commitment and dedication over the past year. Hugo Wolters

20 Active Members Dinner SOCIAL

Dinner

As the tradition holds, once all the new committees are established, it is time for our active members to get together for a dinner – but not just any dinner, we are talking about all Around 18:30, this impressive Chinese restaurant which seems huge at first sight started to fill up with 40 hungry econometricians. As we entered the dining hall, we had to look for our name tags on the tables, because our seats were assigned randomly. In this way, people got to know each other better and after some shy introductions, as the drinks started to flow, the atmosphere became better and better and everyone knew it was going to be a promising night. After everyone found their place and the ice started to break, we would soon start to eat forgetting about any limit. The variety of food was amazing, everyone kept coming and going back to bring new plates of food after which they would take a break to breath

you can eat Chinese cuisine. So on the 8th of October, we all gathered at “De Gouden Wok” to get to know each other as efficiently as possible: with plenty of food and drinks.

and regain power and then start all over again.

“But this is normal,

seeing all the salads, fries, meat, fish, Chinese specialties, sweets, chocolate fountain, how could you resist?”

Even just for the dessert, an average person would fill in around three plates. And everyone knows that with great appetite, comes great thirst, so the pinches of beer started to take the place of single glasses on our table.

ended up with our stomachs full. Needless to say, moving from one place to another was actually a challenge, but we regret nothing.

This took place for hours and after this epic feast, we all

“And everyone

knows that with great appetite, comes great thirst”

capacity, we had to leave, but most of the econometricians didn’t feel ready to go home yet, the night was not over. So ideas of where the after party should be help started to pop out. As some suggested, a big fraction of active members went to continue this epic night in Blender, but that is another completely ravenous story… Madalina Moraru

After our tummies would allow it to us we regained full movement

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FAECTOR

SOCIAL

PENGUIN

Introduction Camp

On a bright Friday morning a group of soon-to-be freshmen gathered at the Rotterdam Alexander train station, where some board and Freshmen Committee members greeted them enthusiastically. Among the group were students from all over the world, all excited to get to know each other during the PENGUIN Weekend that was about to start. After arriving at the campsite it was time for some introduction games that were so thrilling that some literally wet their pants. It soon became clear more water would be involved in the activities of the day: a raftbuilding competition followed. Provided with barrels, ropes and logs the penguins were told to get to the other side of the beautiful on-site pond and back. The slowest team would have to clean the bathroom, so the hasty building started and resulted in lots of amusement. Dinner time! After recovering from the competition, the hungry penguins couldn’t wait to have a taste of the food Harry had been preparing: chili con carne. Delicious indeed,

and unknowing of the long night ahead, many were already looking forward to sleeping in the bunks (or not?)! The rest of the evening everyone got to know each other better, with lots of drinks and food: some played cards, some enjoyed a good talk and others played beerpong or ‘Drieman’ with the board members. Notable was also an occasional fight for a totem, an extraordinary way of building friendships. The next morning everyone was woken early, since the Freshmen Committee had planned another day full of activities. The few hours of sleep were not enough for many, but an energy-boosting breakfast - with for several

international students amazing ‘hagelslag’ - pepped them up. Teams were made and it was time to head to the city centre of Rotterdam for the Crazy 88 game, during which engagements were made and clothes were exchanged.

“The

few hours of sleep were not enough for many, but an energy-boosting breakfast - with for several international students amazing ‘hagelslag’ - pepped them up.”

A pub crawl followed, and the future econometricians enjoyed a drink at pubs throughout the

city with current and former board members, who on their turn came to the campsite later on the day for a grand barbecue. After dinner (and after an hour of doing the dishes), the last evening was spent playing more games such as ‘Weerwolven’ and Russian drinking games. Who needs sleep on the last night of PENGUIN Weekend?? On Sunday the PENGUIN Weekend came to an end. Within three days, memories were created and friendships were formed. It was time to clean up and say goodbye, but no tears were shed: the next day the penguins would be facing the start of their university life, yet now together. Cynthia Yang

CAREER

Econometric Career Days

ECD

On the 18th and 19th of November the second edition of the Econometric Career Days (ECD) took place, after the great success of the first edition of the ECD last year. In the early morning of Tuesday 18th of November, the ECD started with the Grand Opening in the Senaatszaal. In this nice room, where normally only PhD defences are performed, the ECD was opened. Mats van Rijn, Career Officer of the board of FAECTOR, introduced the first guest speaker: Prof. Dr. Mario van Vliet. Mario van Vliet also studied Econometrics at the Erasmus University, and is currently working at Deloitte, where he is a member of the board. Furthermore, he has worked at some well-known companies in the past, like Royal Dutch Shell, Unilever and Capgemini. He discussed the importance of analytics in today’s business and shared his ideas on the future and development of those analytics. Also, he discussed

the value of mathematics for the society. Of course, both of those topics are interesting for us as econometricians, as it is important to know how we can apply our knowledge in a business environment. After he finished, some interesting questions were asked by people from the audience. After that, the second guest speaker was introduced: Prof. Dr. Philip Hans Franses. Probably, most of you will know him, as he has been the Dean of the Erasmus School of Economics for the past 9 years. First, he stressed the importance of getting a PhD degree which is necessary if you want to become a CEO of a company for example. Also, he added that the time he did his own PhD, was probably the best

time of his life. Furthermore, he explained the evolution of econometric models in comparison with appropriate statistical software, where he stressed out that it is necessary to improve the development of statistical software such that more modern econometric models are also included.

“It was fascinating

to see that the entire process is fully automated, and especially the automated ground vehicles driving without colliding.”

After the grand opening was finished, everyone was getting hungry and for this reason most of participants went to the H-building for a lunch in Siena. Next for the start of the

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afternoon program, there was a choice between two different activities: The harbour trip to the ECT terminal or a workshop by Het Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS), which is the bureau of statistics in The Netherlands. For the harbour trip, a group of around 30 students gathered at the bus to go to the harbour. After driving for almost an hour, the group arrived at the ECT Delta terminal. The ECT Delta terminal is one of the few terminals in the entire world which is fully automated. From the bus we got a nice tour by Bart van Riessen, who explained in detail the entire process from the arrival of a container vessel until the moment when a container leaves the terminal. It was fascinating to see that the entire process is fully automated, and especially the automated ground vehicles driving without colliding.

FAECTOR

CAREER

Econometric Career Days case was about seasonal adjustment, which is a vital technique when you want to analyse short term developments. In this case, the participants could apply seasonal adjustment themselves on a dataset as supplied by the CBS.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Afterwards, the

case was introduced and usually the best participant(s) could win some nice rewards.â&#x20AC;?

Then, the group went to a building to get some more information about the projects ECT is involved in. Also, Bart van Riessen explained some things about his own research topics, as he is currently working on his PhD at the Erasmus University. Of course, when we left the building it was time for a nice groups picture with the huge

terminal as a nice background. Unfortunately, when returning to the university we faced (yet again) a traffic jam, such that we arrived somewhat later. Another group had a case by the CBS. First, there was an introduction about the company itself and after that the case was introduced. The

Finally, the first day of the ECD concluded with a social drink from Ab Ovo. Ab Ovo supplies software solutions and business solutions in the field of logistics. The drink became a successful one, also due to the fact that all drinks were free and lots of people took the effort to join the drink as well. The second day, Wednesday 19th November, mainly consisted of cases provided by several companies. In

the morning there were 3 different cases, which could be followed by third year and master students: We had the banking company Van Lanschot Bankiers, the trading company Flow Traders and KPMG. In each of those cases, the companies would start by introducing themselves and explaining something about the company itself. Afterwards, the case was introduced and usually the best participant(s) could win some nice rewards. The morning program was closed with a lunch for all participants of the morning cases. In the afternoon, there were cases by trading company Optiver, Deloitte and KPN. I attended the case from KPN, where there was first a short introduction about what the possible opportunities for econometricians are when working at KPN. Also, some examples of recent projects were presented to us. After that, the case was introduced, which was about different types of marketing to promote certain services. For example,

CAREER

Econometric Career Days one could reach (possible) customers by sending direct mail or by calling them. The goal was to find out which type of marketing would lead to the highest profit, where one should take into consideration that the cost of performing a certain type of marketing differs, as well as the percentage of people who actually applies for the service. After the groups finished their case, each of the groups needed to present their case and all members of the best two groups won a free ticket to ‘Het Rijksmuseum’ in Amsterdam.

party, this time the party took place at a very nice location at Pakhuis of the Westelijk Handelsterrein. And with this party, the ECD 2014 came to an end. I would like to thank the members of the ECD Committee for making those days possible, and hopefully some more editions of this nice event will follow in the future. Ivan Olthuis

After all cases were finished, it was time for a well-deserved social drink in Siena, where the participants also had the possibility to talk to the companies which provided the afternoon cases. This social drink also meant that the “career” part of the ECD had come to an end, and that the only event which remained was the party. After last year’s boat

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FAECTOR

SOCIAL

25 Chef

Chef Veda On Friday the 14th of November, our dear colleague Veda agreed to cook for us an amazing, delicious dinner. It was raining cats and dogs outside and we were all soaked when me and my fellow journalists arrived at Veda’s place on campus, around 7 o’clock. In contrast to the outside cold, Veda’s home was cozy and welcoming. He lives together with 2 other International flat mates and from his stories, it seems that living on campus is quite an experience. Some of us didn’t know Veda yet but he welcomed us so warmly in his home that the ice broke fast and we all gathered in his kitchen in the Hatta Building. Veda lived in England for some years but he is originally from India so, of course, the food was a traditional dish and we couldn’t keep track of the number spices he used. But Indian food is all about the spices.

“The different

Everyone was waiting to devour the food, gathered around the table in his kitchen, talking and laughing. We kept it sober, as we were drinking soda and juice but even so, the evening turned out to be great. When the most awaited moment arrived, that the food was ready, everyone helped out to set the table. The main dish was chicken with a million Indian spices, together with salad, rice and another delicious side dish made mainly of eggs and of course, more spices.

As Veda started cooking, the different yummy smells were making our mouths water.

The food was plenty and everyone refilled their plates a couple of times. We also tasted a traditional Indian paste made of the hottest ingredients you can find. It was the first time we, The ‘Estimatees’, tried that

yummy smells were making our mouths water.”

Chef:

Veda Ramireddy

Start year:

2014, BSc2 program

Favorite dish:

‘Biryani’

Favorite spot: Erasmus Bridge

typical Indian paste. Rumor has it that you can literally feel your mouth on fire. Some of us, the bravest ones, tasted it and between all the tears which came out uncontrollably, managed to smile and admit it was actually tasty. Of course, a lot of water was consumed after this to get back to normal. But I think we would all try it again! With our bellies full and a good ambiance, we continued the evening with stories and jokes for a few more hours. Overall, the evening was great and we all had an amazing time, the food was quite an experience

and we owe it all to Veda, for being such a fantastic host. Thus, on behalf of the Estimator Committee, thank you for pulling together such an experience for us! Madalina Moraru

ASSOCIATION

Adventures of the 49th board

49 board th

The first months as a FAECTOR board member have passed and when I am checking our ’49’ calendar, I notice that we have had a huge amount of amazing moments in the year 2014. We didn’t only have amazing events with our fellow members, but also joined occasions where we met board members of other associations. The official start of our board year was at the WALV (General Assembly Meeting) on the 4th of September, but in August we already had some great moments with each other at the introduction camps PINKWIN and PENGUIN, and at the Eurekaweek. After meeting the new first-year students, our board photo was taken despite some problems with the manufacturing of our suits. Besides the official photo that you could see on our constitution card we also made

a more ‘out-of-the-box’ photo, which will be revealed later this year. The first block was a period full of constitution drinks at other study associations in Rotterdam, but also at econometric study associations in the Netherlands such as Asset | Econometrics in Tilburg and Kraket in Amsterdam. During these free drinks we gave remarkable presents to the other boards such as chicken nuggets, a dildo, a

bottle of Absinth, a Turkish pizza, a FAECTOR cap and even an ironing board. After a while it gets monotonous at these drinks, so to spice things up you try to steal some attributes, such as the mace, the guestbook or even a board member. We got an honourable reputation which led to the fact that after a few constitution drinks, other boards informed their established strong-arm boys that they had to watch those guys with a green tie very carefully. In our opinion this habit helps to get to know other associations better, since you receive some great gifts at the other study association’s offices in exchange for stealing their attributes. Besides visiting other constitution drinks we also enjoyed our own constitution drink at our favourite café Divoza. It was a wild evening especially for those who wanted to protect the mace... Once again we would like to thank the committees for their gifts, which also contributed to the fact that some of us

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cannot remember the end of this fantastic night. However, a few managed to keep the party going at De Vrienden Live next door, even though one unfortunate board member had to attend an Inhouse Day the next morning.

“After a while it gets monotonous at these drinks, so to spice things up you try to steal some attributes, such as the mace, the guestbook or even a board member.”

We also took part in board career events and even in a board battle at Van Lanschot in Amsterdam. Sadly we couldn’t make it to the national round, because the jury didn’t want to understand our innovative idea of using big data at their bank. Luckily the other participating team from Rotterdam, the ERD Committee, maintained the illustrious reputation of Rotterdam.

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Adventures of the 49th board ED/FAECTOR board member and their experiences today.

On the 15th of November, former board members were invited for a special dinner in the middle of the Euromastpark at the Harbour Club. Before the delicious 5-course dinner, the former board members had the opportunity to obtain the last memorable disappearing ED merchandise during an auction. Oddly enough, nobody wanted to acquire the flag of the ED, so the 49th board decided to buy

it for an iconic amount of 49 Euros. The successful dinner was accompanied by a speech of our president Bob Muijs, who thanked all the former board members for making FAECTOR the marvellous association it is today. It was an evening where the people who have experienced the magnificence of a board year could get to know each other and share experiences of the time as an

One of the last events this year was the BID (Board Integration Day), which was organised by our sister association in Tilburg. This is an event where all the boards of all the econometric study associations get together to bond. We left an astonishing impression on the board members of Amsterdam, Tilburg and Maastricht by arriving in FAECTOR-green onesies while drinking a beer to cure the hangover we got from being at the constitution drink of STAR the previous night. Our Career Officer set the tone when he pointed out that the largest econometric study association had arrived. After a long walk we reached a FAECTORy where the liquor ‘Schrobbelèr’, native to Tilburg, is being produced. The visit consisted of a lunch, the history of the liquor and a tour in the

factory. After we had consumed the liquor in four different forms, we headed to the centre of Tilburg to have dinner. Next, we visited a few local pubs and the day ended in a club which we would call a refined ‘ski-hut’. However, this definitely wasn’t a bad thing and after some beers the relationship between FAECTOR and Kraket got very close... The year of 2014 has almost come to an end, but fortunately FAECTOR and our board still have a lot to look forward to and we are going to enjoy every single moment of it. On behalf of the 49th board I wish you good luck with the upcoming exams and wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year. Hopefully we will see you at FAECTOR events in 2015 and keep in mind that the 49th board of FAECTOR is always BAI! Felix Mourer

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Crossword Puzzle

Econometric Puzzle It is time to challenge yourself by solving this incredibly hard crossword puzzle!

03. 05. 06. 08. 10. 11. 13. 15. 17. 18. 19.

Gaussian distribution Fourth moment Execute code repeatedly Second moment Matrix of second-order partial derivatives A way to proof a mathematical statement Value for square matrices Matrix laboratory Pythagorasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; theorem of probability

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01. 02. 04. 07. 08. 09. 12. 14. 16.

Unobserved variable Prisonerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dilemma Algorithm for linear programming Algorithm that solves shortest path problem Not a number Program to be used for regressions Object-oriented programming language

FAECTOR

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Study Section

Education Board Dear Students, The first estimator of the academic year 2014-2015! On behalf of the Education Management, I would like to welcome all new econometrics students. For all new students, the year started with the Erasmus School of Economics Take-Off. September 1st was dominated by getting to know your fellow students and getting started at the Erasmus School of Economics. The day was a great success, 267 students starting a bachelor in Econometrie, Econometrics or BSc2 participated in this introduction day. The day was combined with the opening of the academic year, at which our king Willem-Alexander was present, and the Heartbeat festival.

speaker, a dance intermezzo, music and videos. Tuesday the 28th alumnus and founder of Debatrix Lars Duursma was the key note speaker. The day after, the executive director of the Cruise Port Rotterdam, Mai Elmar, gave an inspiring speech to the students and their guests.

Currently, the second block has already started. During the first exam week of this year, we got used to new and stricter rules concerning exam papers, identification and watches during exams. Hopefully your first exams went well anyway! Some of you are currently having a good time studying a semester abroad. Recently, the Erasmus School of Economics has recruited a new partner university in the area of Global Economics, Sung Kyun Kwan University (SKKU) in South-Korea. For exchange students of Erasmus School of Economics this means a unique opportunity to experience this world-class university and South-Korea.

Best regards,

The Bachelor Graduation Days were a great success! On Tuesday 28th and Wednesday 29th of October, the graduates of the bachelors Economics and Business Economics, Economics and Taxation, IBEB and Econometrics received their diploma during a festive ceremony. The number of students that has chosen to participate was with 345 students again larger than last year. This resulted in an Aula completely filled with students, family and friends for two days in a row! The ceremony consisted of several different parts, including an inspiring key note speaker, a student

Something new this academic year: a class-free week between block 4 and 5 planned in the academic calendar! However right now, you are probably more looking forward to the Christmas holidays. In the meantime, I wish you all the best with the second block!

Margot Wolters Student member of the Education Board & First Ambassador Econometrics R: H 6-25 T: +31 10 408 2978 E: wolters@ese.eur.nl

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Study Section

Educational Committee Dear fellow students, The first block of this academic year has already come to an end and we hope that all of your exams went well and paid off with good results. Especially, a very warm welcome to the freshmen! Let us first explain a bit about what the Education Committee actually is and does. The Educational Committee plays a key-role in the debate between the students, lecturers and management, it evaluates and where possible improves the study for our and the next generation of students. We try to improve the study program and conditions by having regular meetings where we discuss all aspects related to the Econometrics program. Further, during each block we have evaluation meetings where we discuss ongoing issues on the courses. For the freshmen courses, we will have evaluation meetings together with the student representatives from the first year to provide feedback on the current courses to the lecturers. The students, lecturers and management all have their platform to speak up from, in order to improve the study. To be able to improve the program and study conditions wherever needed, we need your feedback too. As student, you perceive the education from a different point of view. That is why we would highly appreciate your feedback on whatever is relevant to the study. You can do this by contacting us, the members of the Education Committee, or the first-year representatives. Next to this, we would like to make you aware of the course evaluations on Sin-Online, these provide lecturers with valuable insights on how the courses are perceived. Please do not forget to fill these in at the end of the blocks, so that the program can keep getting better.

We would like to wish you the best of luck for the rest of the blocks, and please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any questions about our work or encounter systematic problems in the program. Student members of the Education Committee Econometrics & Operational Research Mechteld Ferment Bas Monsewije Jan Radermacher Krishna Vyas Staff members of the Education Committee Econometrics & Operational Research Dr. C. Heij Dr. W. van den Heuvel Dr. R. Spliet Dr. M. van der Wel Contact: oceconometrie@gmail.com

As we announced last time, John has left the Education Committee after two years and Jan will leave us after the second block of this year. We have two successors, them being Bas Monsewije, a second-year student of the Dutch bachelor of Econometrics, and Krishna Vyas, a second-year student of the international bachelor of Econometrics.

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FAECTOR

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Study Section

Congratulations to all graduates! 04-Jul-14 Lennart Appels

28-Aug-14 Michiel van Trigt

29-Aug-14 Bjorn Baars

29-Aug-14 Philip Bom

Defying Rabbi Issac bar Aha: Portfolio Diversification over Risk Factors

Maturity of Savings Deposits

Predicting the duration of lease contracts: a real-life case study

A global perspective on the relationship between dividends, capital spending and R&D

04-Jul-14 Maarten Jansen

28-Aug-14 Maarten Stolk

29-Aug-14 Siqi Chen

29-Aug-14 Martijn van der Zee

The long term media effects on the Dutch ice-cream market

Relative mean reversion on the Australian stock market

Barge processing policies in container terminals: A multiagent simulation study

Helicopter Routing Problem with Flexibility

14-Aug-14 Xja Qing Xuan

28-Aug-14 Rik de Wilde

29-Aug-14 Pepijn Borgman

29-Aug-14 Teunis Brand

Cross-Sectional Analysis of Index and Individual Stock Option Returns

Explaining Individual Tweet Behaviour: Online Social Contagion on Twitter

An Algorithm for approximating the highest posterior density region in Rd

Analysis of the fetal origins hypothesis with data from The Australian Twin Registry

25-Aug-14 Tijmen van Ark

28-Aug-14 Cornelis Vletter

29-Aug-14 Evelien Tielbeek

29-Aug-14 Didier Nibbering

The Role of Money in Economic Crises A Perspective from the Work of Karl Marx

Multivariate Ordered Probit: Parameter Estimation and Application to a Dutch Cultural Change Survey

Using Bubble Information to Predict Stock Market Crashes

Emerging Market Corporate Bonds: Drivers and Investment Strategies

27-Aug-14 Sabri Bouzidi

28-Aug-14 Frank Moers

29-Aug-14 Boudewijn Klijn

29-Aug-14 Marc Anijs

Bitcoin prices, the next Bubble? A Comparison of Econometric Tests

Predicting patient arrival rates at Emergency Departments in the Netherlands

Quantifying Longevity Risk

Flow formulations for the Time Window Assignment Vehicle Routing Problem

28-Aug-14 Marijn Waltman

29-Aug-14 Vladimir Krumov

29-Aug-14 M.S. Furtado

29-Aug-14 Davind Delgrado

â&#x20AC;&#x153;A Gateway to Customer Lifetime Value: Treating Bookings as Realizations of Marked Temporal Point Processesâ&#x20AC;?

Tangency portfolio allocation avoiding extreme allocations

Partial Prepayment Model for Dutch Mortgages

RESOURCE-CONSTRAINED PROJECT SCHEDULING

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Study Section

29-Aug-14 Wouter de Zeeuw

11-Sep-14 Kevin Dalmeijer

30-Sep-14 Steven Aanen

16-Oct-14 Tommy Blom

The detection of transient jumps in high frequency data

TNT Express: Shared Service Centers for Data Capture Activities

Modelling Univariate Volatility Using a Warped Gaussian Process

Empty Wagon Repositioning; Heuristics for a Hub-andSpoke Network

29-Aug-14 Evdokia Papaioannou

11-Sep-14 Jose Nunez Ares

15-Oct-14 Jonathan Boom

16-Oct-14 Florian Maas

Parameter Optimization by Surrogates: an Application to Vehicle Routing Computer Models

List Prices as Input for Valuation and Prediction of Transaction Prices

Describing And Predicting Returns: An Agent Based Approach

The Flexible Delivery Problem with Time Windows

29-Aug-14 Caspar Gevaerts

16-Sep-14 Jolien Rip

16-Oct-14 Sabine den Daas

16-Oct-14 Daisy van Oostrom

COFFEE: Computing the Order of Facets in a Framework for E-shop Exploration

The applicability of regimeswitching models in projecting Dutch mortality

Goodness of Fit for exponential families within stochastic processes

Social Media: A Proxy for Health Care Quality Indicators

11-Sep-14 Jos Kwakkel

16-Sep-14 Zihong Fan

16-Oct-14 Indy Bermoster

16-Oct-14 Derrick Olij

A general longevity risk framework Using stationary block bootstrap

HEAVY and Realized (E) GARCH models

Internal Consistency in EventRelated Potentials associated with the Eriksen Flanker Experiment

Diversification benefits of REITs

11-Sep-14 Victor Vertregt

30-Sep-14 Marijn den Boer

16-Oct-14 Enzo Bakkum

Picking the best cherries: Analysing the use of macro-finance variables in predicting monthly realized volatility

The Symmetric Traveling Salesman Problem. Data Mining techniques for heuristic construction

Conjoint analysis: providing new models dealing with complex choice sets and substitution patterns

11-Sep-14 Lisa Hogenboom

30-Sep-14 Patrick Nolten

16-Oct-14 Rutger de Wit

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Forecasting the throughput in the ports of the Hamburg - Le Havre rangeâ&#x20AC;?

Financial Risk Analysis Using Probabilistic Fuzzy Systems

Dynamic Factor Models and Factor Construction

11-Sep-14 Fatih Parlak

30-Sep-14 Nick Verbeek

16-Oct-14 Sven van den Berg

GDP and Energy Mix

Misspecification Risk of TimeVariant Dynamics in Time Series with Level or Volatility Changes

Demand-to-Train Allocation in a Hub-and-Spoke Network

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