Hendrik Schakel
Over twenty years in mortgages and financial planning, combined with what technology now genuinely makes possible. I work with developers on advice that is more accessible, more efficient and easier for clients. I do this for my own ventures as well as for others.
In recent years I've built independent mortgage adviser Viisi Hypotheken as co-founder: from a start-up with zero employees to a team of forty mortgage experts. Now I work on new ventures where good advice, technology and automation come together. As an independent entrepreneur, but also for organisations heading in the same direction.
Amsterdam · Mexico City
CFP® · Certified Financial Adviser (EFA) · Wft Mortgages, Pensions, Wealth, Income
Advising faster and more consistently without losing quality or the personal relationship. Which AI applications deliver real value, which risks they introduce, and how to organise human oversight within Dutch regulatory and privacy requirements.
From customer need and business model to licensing, distribution, lenders, process and launch, including for international players looking to enter the Netherlands.
An independent, analytical view on innovation, positioning and growth, as a standing board member or as a sounding board for the management team and shareholders.
Also open to partnership and building something together. Schedule an introduction →
Good financial advice is highly labour-intensive, for client and adviser alike. Smart automation and AI can change that: agents handle the preparatory and administrative work, while people take care of trust and compliance. I'm building that new way of advising, together with experienced software developers, entrepreneurs and decision-makers inside organisations.
An online tool I designed and built myself that makes pension and financial planning accessible and easy to understand. Live and publicly available. The start of a platform with calculators, articles and videos offering reliable guidance on building wealth and financial planning.
benikfinancieelonafhankelijk.nl ↗Development project with a dedicated development partner: a network of specialised AI agents that prepares a complete mortgage advice, including document review. The goal: a ready-to-use advice file that lets an adviser discuss the advice and reach an approved quote in a few hours.
AI prepares; a human decides. That keeps advice both fast and reliable.
Automating advice means automating responsibility too. That is why every design I make accounts for:
I'd love to connect with entrepreneurs, advisers and decision-makers who want to move in the same direction.
In the field since 2003: advice, brokerage, compliance, duty of care and product policy. CFP® and EFA. I know the advisory process from the client side, the adviser side and the regulatory side. I know where quality, speed and commercial pressure collide.
I don't just talk about AI, I build with it. Calculation tools, specialised agents, knowledge structures and decision rules for mortgage and planning advice, with safeguards against errors and hallucinations, and the human as the final say. Within the boundaries of the Dutch Financial Supervision Act (Wft) and GDPR.
Co-founder of Viisi: from the kitchen table to 40 employees and ±2,000 clients a year. I spot opportunities, develop propositions and make sharp choices, and help make them work, not just on paper.
When many others find something too hard, too adventurous or too much work, that's exactly what excites me. Often it's in projects where domain expertise, technology and genuine interaction with the end client come together.
Which applications deliver real value, which risks arise, and how do you organise human oversight?
From licensing and distribution to the duty to advise, lenders and scaling up: how do you successfully launch a new mortgage or advice proposition in the Dutch market?
Advising faster and more consistently without losing quality or personal contact.
From client need and business model to process, content, calculation tool and market launch.
Translating complex financial, tax and legal matter into decisions clients genuinely understand.
An independent, analytical perspective on innovation, positioning and growth opportunities.
A selection of interviews, explainers and columns from recent years, mostly from my time at Viisi Hypotheken. See all my publications since 2008 here →
At Viisi Hypotheken we felt it mattered to show the faces behind the mortgage labels. So we produced the series 'In conversation with the lender', in which I interviewed 15 lenders together with my colleague Frank Tukker.
Watch the whole series ↗My regular breakdown of Budget Day, the Spring Memorandum and election manifestos: what does politics in The Hague mean for your mortgage and your wallet?
For years I also made regular interest-rate updates for a broad audience. You can find it all on Viisi Hypotheken's YouTube channel.
Since 2011 I have written columns and analyses for outlets including Het Financieele Dagblad, NRC, Trouw, AMweb, VVP and Vastgoedmarkt, often about the strange effects of laws and regulation, advice quality and the future of the profession. A selection:
Regular Budget Day reflections, in 2025 also as a podcast with the Federation of Financial Planners.
Advisory Board MemberRentberry
Advice on international expansion and platform optimisation for a proptech digitising the rental process.
Co-founderViisi Hypotheken · Amsterdam
Financial planning for highly educated professionals: transparent, independent, personal. Roles: compliance, marketing and financial planning. From 0 to 40 employees and ±2,000 clients a year; €6–7M annual revenue. In 2026 I sold my shares to my co-founders, who continue running the company.
Independent
Columns and analyses in Het Financieele Dagblad, NRC, Trouw, Amweb and VVP. Regular Budget Day reflections (in 2025 also as a podcast with the FFP).
Senior Financial ConsultantMLP Private Finance · Amsterdam
Built the Dutch branch of MLP AG. Advice and acquisition in financial planning for highly educated professionals.
MSc Economics (with distinction)University of Amsterdam
MSc ChemistryUniversity of Amsterdam
Erasmus year · economics, history, political scienceFreie Universität Berlin
I live in Amsterdam but also feel at home in Rotterdam, where I lived for three years. I'm also regularly in Mexico City, where my wife Edelmira is from. Outside work I run and cycle, play football at Wartburgia, and enjoy reading about history and science. Curiosity and the urge to truly understand things drive me, in my personal life just as much as in my work.
Are you an entrepreneur, decision-maker or engineer working on better and more accessible financial advice? Then I'd be glad to explore whether we can strengthen each other. I work best in environments where smart people pursue worthwhile goals and where my experience and drive make a difference.
There are many ways to do that: taking on a strategic project together, as a member of an advisory board or supervisory board, or by building a venture together. I'd love to connect!
A no-obligation 30-minute conversation to exchange thoughts and ideas.
A question or a proposal? Fill in the form and we'll talk.