Northern Trust has announced that it will offer asset management solutions to institutional clients across Benelux (Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg) from its Amsterdam office, following regulatory approval from the Dutch Autoriteit Financiële Markten and the UK Financial Services Authority.
Regulatory approval for Northern Trust's international asset management arm, Northern Trust Global Investments Ltd. (NTGI) supports its strategy to enhance its business across Europe, Middle East and Africa and expands Northern Trust's product offering for clients across the Benelux region where asset servicing capabilities have been offered from its Amsterdam branch office since March 2006.
Northern Trust foresees strong growth in the Benelux region for its asset management activities, and the company regards the region as a stepping stone for further EMEA expansion.
"Our investment business is built around our clients' needs and we believe the best way to listen to our clients and understand their specific goals and objectives is by having experienced investment professionals in the region," said John Krieg, Managing Director of NTGI in Europe, Middle East and Africa. "Now, through our expansion, we can offer the local market direct access to our investment expertise and array of asset management solutions in addition to the variety of custody and fund administration services already offered in the Benelux region."
To support NTGI's expansion, Gerard van Leusden and Arnaud Bizet have been hired as senior business development directors responsible for building new asset management relationships across the Benelux region with focus on pension funds and asset management groups. They will work alongside Liisa Salojarvi, who has advised NTGI's Benelux clients from London for a number of years, and will be supported by NTGI's experienced UK team of relationship managers.
Van Leusden and Bizet join from Blackrock, previously BGI, in Amsterdam where they were sales and relationship management directors. Together they bring more than 20 years of combined experience in the investment management industry. The addition of two Dutch senior directors to the Benelux team marks the further successful local implementation of Northern Trust's enhanced product offering and services to institutional investors in the region.
"We are delighted to welcome Gerard and Arnaud, who will be instrumental in supporting the expansion of Northern Trust's asset management business to institutional clients across Benelux, from our branch in The Netherlands," said Wim van Ooijen, Country Head for Northern Trust in The Netherlands. "The Netherlands continues to be a key market for Northern Trust and one in which we have been increasingly successful as a corporation for many years, and we are delighted to now also enter the attractive local asset management market segment from our Amsterdam office."
