Portrait of: Jan Ede Kuipers
Meet our team: today a portrait of Jan Ede Kuipers
The well-read Jan Ede Kuipers is co-founder of Kuipers & Claassen. Together with business economist William Claassen, he started a partnership in 1996 that led to the current financial and tax consulting firm in Amsterdam, focused on serving medical and business professionals. He himself graduated in Tax Law from the University of Amsterdam. He then also completed a post-graduate study at the Pension Academy of Akkermans & Partners in Tilburg.
Jan Ede himself cannot remember, but from family stories about the old days he knows that as a toddler he wanted to become a pharmacist. His motivation for this has not stayed with him. It is not surprising that at a later stage in his life, growing up Jan Ede aspires to the profession of veterinarian. Coming from a family in which horses play an important role, he wants to start a stud farm after his studies. That he is serious is evident from the fact that he is making six serious attempts to be admitted to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Utrecht University. However, with very limited placement opportunities for new students each year, he fails to get admitted to the only place in the Netherlands where you can study veterinary medicine.
After graduating from the Pieter Zeeman Lyceum and being marked out for veterinary medicine, Jan Ede went to work for his uncle Piet Smit. With this horse trainer, veterinary students come to train for a few months every year for "Peerdepieten," the most spectacular event organized annually by the Veterinary Student Circle, founded in 1932. Jan Ede will assist with the training sessions. After completing his studies in Tax Law, he transferred to Kuipers & Claassen in the late 1990s. However, the horse world did not let him go.
With parents who both come from the stud farm world, Jan Ede goes on to breed horses in the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden in addition to his work. It gives him a lot of pleasure. In this, too, he is not without merit. His earlier involvement with "Peerdepieten" reaches a peak with this event when in 2010 his horse Wico Toscana wins the annual race with pacer Anne-Marie Sas at Duindigt. In 2011, Wico Toscana with pacer Michael Woltheus prolongs the title. But also in previous years Jan Ede has been successful in races with many of his bred horses, according to reports on the website of the Dutch Trotting and Racing Foundation.
An avid golfer, Jan Ede manages to win several competitions in the 1980s and 1990s. For him, golf is more than a sporting activity. For years he was actively involved in organizational matters. Not only as a board member of the Amsterdam Old Course, the Amsterdam Golf Club and the European Golf Association. For some 30 years he has been committed to the Royal Dutch Golf Federation. For example, from 1992 he acts as a referee at national and international tournaments, but at a later stage also manages to make himself particularly deserving as vice president and board member of the federation for six years. Upon his resignation at the end of 2021, the president of the board, Caroline Huyskes, appointed him a member of merit under commendations.
When organizing and leading national and - later - European tournaments, he knows how to make the link to customer experience and managing employees. Don't put yourself in the foreground. With a piece of self-knowledge watch out for the firmness with which you say things, even in harshness, and be open to naming mistakes. The same person who encourages Jan Ede to become active within the golf world also advises him not to go for the quick money in business but for quality customers and focus on a long-term relationship with them. Practice shows that this also suits Jan Ede well. 'We speak a language of exuding quality and trust,' he explains.
The world around us affects us. Jan Ede clearly has a vision that he also likes to share. In it, he takes his clients into their specific situation. What is the impact of what is happening around us? Whether it's about economics, politics or art, he talks about it with his clients. Taking a helicopter view of what money does to you, what money should do and where clients' concerns are and how to address those concerns. After World War II, generations got better and better. Something Jan Ede has experienced himself. 'Meanwhile, we live in a country with disappointed people,' he says, 'A lot of children don't get better than their parents. It is no longer taken for granted.' With his interpretation, Jan Ede includes his clients in his advice. Their interests come first with him. He also has a clear vision of how to address social inequality, which also affects them.
"I am an emotional person," confesses Jan Ede. Thinking back to his younger years, he sees a development in this in himself. While in elementary school his extroverted attitude caused him to frequently sit on his bench in the hallway, during his later studies his ratio developed strongly. Because Jan Ede now appears not only calm and rational but also empathic to others, he is often asked for advice. Not only in the business field. In meditative moments Jan Ede lays a foundation for himself that helps him in this every day. Also to avoid getting stuck in life.
'Not separately available,' Jan Ede resolutely agrees. The core values of Kuipers & Claassen, professional, personal, proactive and passion, combine strongly.
Quotes
I am a financial GP.
I am versed in many areas.
I cross borders for the helicopter view.
I choose quality customers.
The happiest people are those who do not retire.
I try to add something, that people don't forget.
I am an emotional person.
I have no regard for authority.
