Nina Zimberlin

Company: Rabobank
Job Description: Director
Age: 30
Years of working experience in M&A: c. 7 years

Bio
Nina is the Director of Mergers and Acquisitions at Rabobank. She holds a Bachelor of Science in International Economics and Business Economics from Erasmus School of Economics and a Master of Science in Finance and Investments from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University.

Nina began her career as an M&A intern at Rabobank, progressing to Associate M&A. She later served as a Content Architect in Corporate Finance Advisory before being promoted to Associate Director M&A. Currently, she is Director M&A.

What are the specialties of this talent?
Nina is nothing short of a true trailblazer in the industry, setting an example for the team, the bank and broader as an all-round professional, charismatic leader and change-maker.

On the work floor, Nina excels as a committed professional, having advised on a large number of landmark deals throughout her career and establishing dedicated expertise in Energy Transition M&A, a space in which she continues to grow and invest in acquiring specialised knowledge including battery storage, biogas and sustainable heating solutions. As the youngest Director in Rabobank’s M&A team, Nina’s dedication and hard work do not go unnoticed, with her position in the team speaking to trust and confidence she has undoubtedly earned.

Nina also brings fresh perspectives to the M&A industry and Rabobank, choosing to devote her time to projects underpinned by sustainability themes and contributing to Rabobank’s wider mission of supporting the food and energy transitions.

As a colleague Nina is a true supporter and a trusted confidant – her distinctive interpersonal skills, confidence and devotion to principles have shaped the unique way she approaches work and collaboration, helping break down barriers of the old ways of working and paving the way for everyone in the team to feel comfortable and grow as their unique selves.

How does the talent distinguish itself from its peers?
Nina’s unshakable discipline, self-awareness, continuous pursuit of knowledge and growth, and commitment to her team is what truly sets her sets her apart from her peers.

Nina can be relied on to be fully present for her project teams and her clients while maintaining enviable degree of work-life balance unique to the industry. Her discipline and work ethic are truly remarkable and set her apart in the deal environment, where clients trust in her unwavering commitment, support and guidance and her team can rely on her frictionless execution capabilities and clear communication.

Nina is relentless in her pursuit of knowledge and building her professional profile, having been a part of many leading educational programmes tailored to energy and sustainability investing and advisory, including among others in her own time obtaining the CFA Certificate in ESG Investing. She is a big proponent for knowledge-sharing across teams, supporting senior and educating junior colleagues in order to build and maintain robust institutional expertise.  Nina started her career with Rabobank M&A as an intern and relentlessly worked her way up to her current position, proving her worth and irreplaceable contribution every step of the way. Her profile and position in the team has evolved over the years, but Nina remains a true pillar of the Rabobank M&A’s team culture and client support, never failing to find new ways to contribute to the change around her and bring her own thoughts and ideas on how to continuously improve things and environment around her.

What impact does the talent have within the organization?
In her seven years with Rabobank, Nina has not only brought value through her dedicated M&A work, but has been the initiator and key promoter of numerous successful initiatives focused on establishing true diversity, equity and inclusion principles and practices in the organisation, supporting growth of diverse talent within the bank and making prominent space for the Rabobank brand in the public eye.

Nina was a key initiator of Rabobank’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion working groups, establishing a centralised communication channel focused on bringing attention to and celebrating cultural, ethical, gender and other differences and thereby effectively advocating for a culture that values diversity of opinions and profiles. A highlighted initiative includes organising and acting as a host and interviewer on a bank-wide event to spotlight the voices of women in leadership: the Rabobank Women in Wholesale: Leadership Perspectives event included Rabobank Board Member Els Kamphof as a guest, with over 500 colleagues from across the bank globally in attendance.

Nina has also been the driving force behind establishing Corporate Finance publicity efforts, building a team of colleagues focused on streamlining deal activity and other team marketing efforts to boost the external brand reputation of Rabobank’s corporate finance franchise. Nina also actively supports events across the bank, leveraging her public speaking skills as a host and interviewer in, amongst others, hosting a conference with a 200+ person live audience and moderating global studio video events with >1,000 colleagues in attendance.  In addition to all of that, Nina is one of the most engaged M&A team members, participating in all team initiatives and making her own legacy contribution as a founding member of the team’s annual team-building summer trip aimed at strengthening the team culture through sports and cultural activities.

Finally, in her current role within Rabobank’s M&A team, Nina is a beacon for female talent aspiring to thrive in the field in which diverse talent is still scarce. Throughout her career, Nina has consistently spoken up to support a change in the environment that would make M&A world more supportive of women and helped lay the grounds for accelerated female talent attraction across Rabobank teams today. She still actively builds on this role by supporting and participating in various female-empowering recruitment and retention initiatives, ensuring a true and long-lasting change in the industry.

What impact does the talent have outside the organization?
Nina’s passion for sustainability and contributions to the community extends beyond her professional specialisation as the in-house ESG specialist and Energy Transition sector focus. She often volunteers her free time to the community including initiatives such as the sponsored run for Kind & Handicap Funrun4ALL, raising funds to support children and young people with disabilities or chronic illnesses, and Winterfair by NL Cares to bring joy to lonely elderly individuals. In addition, Nina is a frequent blood donor at Sanquin.

Nina also uses her knowledge and professional experience to provide guidance to students on ESG and their future careers. Nina was the company coach for 12 students as part of Rabobank’s consultancy-style Living Management Case, part of the RSM MSc Finance and Investments Honours program, where the focus was on embedding ESG in Corporate Finance. In addition, Nina regularly joins in-house days and student recruitment events, sharing her experience as a panel member or during meet-and-greet events and providing valuable insights to female- and international students on working in M&A.

To what extent does the talent makes the difference to clients?
As a South African, with an international background having lived in Canada and Portugal, Nina brings cultural sensitivity and fresh perspectives to her client relationships. Nina has an exemplary skill for active listening and situational mediation – both of which are crucial to establishing and maintaining a trusted relationship with Rabobank’s clients. Nina does not shy away from taking extra time to carefully approach each unique client problem, request or aspiration to truly understand them and invest all the time needed to come to optimal and creative solutions to each of these.  Over the last four years together with several colleagues, Nina has acquired in-depth knowledge of new sectors and has helped to build out Rabobank’s Energy Transition M&A practice and track record. She has been one of the crucial contributors to the bank’s current reputation as the leading Dutch Energy Transition advisor and has played an instrumental role in a number of landmark deals within the space, including most recently the sale of GIGA Storage to Infravia Capital Partners, a true milestone transaction for the bank and the Dutch energy storage sector.

Why does the talent deserves this nomination?
In the eyes of her colleagues and clients, Nina is an embodiment of what the Best Young Advisor award stands for: an all-round talented professional differentiating herself as an expert in her field, a committed initiator and promoter of cultural changes and improvements and inspiration to her peers, seniors and juniors. Nina deserves this nomination for the uniqueness she brings to the table in everything she does and for achieving effortless balance between challenging work and constant growth, support to her colleagues and time for her family and friends.

Nina has never stepped back in giving her best to help her clients and bringing her projects to the finish line, as well as show dedication to her team, which has been recognised by the bank and broader environment and is well-deserving of the Best Young Talent title.

Any references or recommendations from clients or (colleagues)?
“Nina was our first point of contact at Rabobank during the GIGA Storage sale process. She demonstrated the perfect combination of social skills and subject-matter expertise. It was her creative intelligence, in particular, that ensured a successful transaction that satisfied all parties involved”

Nina has been one of our instrumental team members in helping to build the success of our Energy Transition M&A efforts. Her innovative solutions, ESG knowledge and collaborative spirit consistently elevates our projects, ensuring that we deliver our best work for our clients.”