Thijs Aaten

Thijs Aaten is CEO of APG Asset Management Asia, based in Hong Kong, the regional headquarters of APG, one of the world’s largest pension investors, managing around €600 billion on behalf of Dutch pension funds. A balance-sheet and total-portfolio investor with 25 years at APG, he built and leads the firm’s regional investment platform, and over his career has held leadership roles spanning investment management, portfolio construction, risk, trading and treasury, across public and private markets. Before becoming CEO, Thijs was the Asia platform’s Chief Financial and Risk Officer (CFRO). Earlier, over sixteen years in the Netherlands, he ran a portfolio of around €200 billion as Managing Director, Allocation & Overlay Management, holding the fund’s long-term allocation through the 2008 financial crisis and positioning it for a strong recovery in 2009. He also served as Global Head of Trading, centralising APG’s execution across every asset class, and founded the APG Treasury Center, a licensed investment firm acting as the group’s central dealing desk and counterparty. Thijs’s board and industry engagements have included the board of ISDA, the ECB Bond Market Contact Group and ESMA’s Consultative Working Group; he currently serves on the executive committee of ASIFMA’s asset-management group and the Investment Committee of Bpf Schilders. He holds a BBA from Nyenrode Business University, an MSc in Economics from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and the CFA, CMT and CQF designations.

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