The women making a difference in the financial sector
Utrecht, September 30, 2025 — What energy! At a.s.r. in Utrecht, WIFS launched the Top 50 Women in Sustainable Finance 2025: a recognition and tribute to female leaders who are making a visible, measurable difference in making the financial sector more sustainable. With over 160 visitors, the inspiring event drew a full house.
After a brief opening by moderators Chantal Korteweg and Lievijne Neuteboom (WIFS), Ingrid de Swart (a.s.r.) gave us a warm welcome and immediately delivered a clear message: diversity requires maintenance, and sustainability is a prerequisite. Or, in her words: “Diversity is something you have to keep working on” and “There is no future without sustainability.”
“There is no future without sustainability.” — Ingrid de Swart, a.s.r.
Keynote: capital as a lever for transition
Keynote speaker Jacqueline van den Ende (Carbon Equity) inspired with her down-to-earth exhortation, “If you don't give it a go, you'll never know,” and emphasized the importance of winning together over winning for ourselves.
She was also clear about the role of women in finance: “We, women in finance, are pulling the strings. We are in the cockpit. The future is ours.”
“Money decides. Money is power, in a good way.” — Jacqueline van den Ende, Cabon Equity
Panel: accelerating with policy, instruments, and allyship
After the break, Raquel Criado Larrea (a.s.r.), Chantal Schrijver (EIB Group), Martine Koridon-Rommen (MN) and Faisal Setoe (HDI Global SE) took their places on the sustainable finance panel, moderated by Lievijne Neuteboom. The discussion explored various themes in depth:
- Accelerating the transition: climate finance as a continuing top priority.
From policy to practice: deploying the right instruments, cost-conscious management, and diversification.
Active allyship: not replacing, but increasing visibility and support for women in the sector.
The panel shared sharp insights into transition in practice.
💡In the current context of wars and other crises, the discussion is becoming more complex. This makes it all the more crucial to keep dilemmas open for discussion, prevent polarization, and persevere with sustainable business practices so that we can stay on course.
💡Moving from ambition to implementation requires choices and consistency. Less paper, more practice: using the right tools, keeping costs sharp, and consciously diversifying to spread risks and increase impact.
💡Ideally, quotas or lists such as the Top 50 are not necessary; in reality, they create momentum. Organization-wide ownership, visibility, and encouragement make the difference. Allyship connects these three: not replacing, but broadening, actively expanding the stage for all talent. As Faisal said: “Don't replace your brothers with your sisters.”
The moment of truth: the reveal of the Top 50
Marguerite Soeteman-Reijnen, chair of the expert jury, then launched the Top 50 Women in Sustainable Finance 2025. With almost all 50 nominees in the room, the list was revealed to loud applause.
While the Netherlands dropped 15 places on the Global Gender Gap Index this year, the Top 50 shows what is possible when vision is combined with decisiveness. From 165 nominations (including 108 unique candidates), the jury selected the 50 most impactful changemakers of the moment.
👉 Discover all Top 50 nominees here.
The Top 50 Women in Sustainable Finance highlights female leaders in the Netherlands who are committed to sustainability within the financial sector. The list has been compiled for the fifth year, on the initiative of WIFS.
Over the past year, the nominees have made visible and impactful contributions to making the sector more sustainable. From large banks to start-ups, from NGOs to consultancies, from pension funds to insurers: the diversity among the nominees reflects the width of the sustainable financial domain.
The final selection was made on July 16 by a professional jury at De Nederlandsche Bank. From 165 nominations (including 108 unique names), the jury selected the 50 most impactful changemakers in sustainable finance today. The jury consists of: Cindy van Oorschot, Faisal Setoe, Maarten Edixhoven, Nicolette Loonen, Stephan Veen, Jellie Banga, and Lars Dijkstra, chaired by Marguerite Soeteman-Reijnen.
WIFS congratulates all Top 50 nominees and thanks all visitors, speakers, panel members, chairpersons, the Top 50 expert jury, host a.s.r., and the organization.
All photo's: © LOPKE FOTOGRAFIE