Trying to get under the skin of a private equity manager can be a challenge for institutional investors but not for Eric-Jan Vink.

The head of private equity at the €186.6 billion Dutch pension fund PGGM has sat on both sides of the table, having spent 13 years at Gilde Buy Out Partners, one of the Netherlands' oldest private equity houses. A partner for four years, Vink built his career negotiating buyouts in the Benelux region and elsewhere in Europe.