CFO Dirk Jan Sloots: More 'care' than 'insurance'
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‘You receive something from society, but you also give something back. That idea was instilled in me from a young age,’ said Dirk Jan Sloots, CFRO of Coöperatie Menzis, in the podcast Leaders in Finance. Upon his appointment, he stated that he wanted to contribute to ‘issues of great social relevance.’
The fact that Menzis is a cooperative fits perfectly with that: it means that our primary goal is not to make a lot of money. Most health insurers have traditionally been cooperatives. I think that says a lot about the sector. We’re a healthcare insurer, but perhaps more ‘care’ than ‘insurer.’’
Sloots, born and raised in Winschoten (“I’m a proud Groninger”) studied Econometrics at the University of Groningen and Actuarial Science at the University of Amsterdam. As an avid swimmer, he used to get up at 4:30 p.m. on weekdays during his youth to train before school. Much of his career took place at PGGM, until he moved to Menzis in 2019. “When I made the switch, I found it quite an exciting move, after more than 15 years in the pension sector. On the other hand, the societal challenges within healthcare are very similar to those in the pension sector.”
At Menzis, he is a key driver of digital transformation. In an interview with EY, he stated that digital transformation has fundamentally changed Menzis: ‘The essence of the change is that Menzis is now primarily known among policyholders as an app.’