Luxembourg-based Quintet Private Bank on Sunday said it remains committed to its InsingerGilissen unit in the Netherlands after news emerged at the weekend of another major departure of one of its investment teams, the second such exit in the space of two weeks.
A team of asset managers on Friday announced its departure from InsingerGilissen, InvestmentOfficer.nl has reported. The team, headed by senior investment manager Pim Baljet, offers tailor-made solutions for foundations, associations and company owners with investable assets of more than five million euro. The eight team members will be working for Bank ten Cate & Cie.
At the end August, news emerged that a Rotterdam-based investment team of four people representing InsingerGilissen had transferred to Auréus, an independent Dutch asset manager that has been gaining scale through acquisitions and alliances in recent years.
Market talk about a possible sale of InsingerGilissen by Quintet was reported as a factor in the decisions to depart, but parent company Quintet said on Sunday that a sale of the Dutch firm is not to be expected and underlined the importance of the Dutch branch to the firm’s activities and ambitions.
‘Core to Quintet’
“InsingerGilissen, which boasts a rich history and very talented team, is core to Quintet Private Bank’s operations and long-term growth,” spokesman told Investment Officer. “We continue to invest in further growth in the Netherlands, and are not looking for a buyer.”
“No sale of InsingerGilissen is to be expected,” said the spokesman.
Internal circumstances at InsingerGilissen have been unsettled for some time, people familiar with the firm have said. The Dutch staff reportedly feels uncomfortable with the standardisation of processes and strategies that Quintet’s management has introduced through the former UBS bankers appointed in Luxembourg. Critics said the Luxembourg management does not sufficiently appreciate that the raison d’être of a private bank with wealthy clients is primarily the availability of customised solutions.
Quintet, owned by members of Qatar’s wealthy Al-Thani family through their investment vehicle Precision Capital LLC, was created out of the former Luxembourg business of Belgium’s KBL, which was renamed as Quintet in 2020. KBL had acquired Dutch bank Theodoor Gilissen in 2003 and added Insinger in 2017. The two Dutch banks were then merged.
Quintet has posted a loss of some 110 million euro for 2021, largely due to the liquidation of its unprofitable Bank am Bellevue unit in Switzerland. That liquidation was due to be completed by the third quarter of this year, according to Quintet’s annual report. Bank am Bellevue was acquired in 2019. The firm is active in the UK through its Brown Shipley unit, in Denmark and in Belgium, where it owns investment bank Puilaetco.
Standardisation
The eight members of InsingerGilissen’s asset management team that departs for ten Cate are Pim Baljet, Teetse Holtrop, Rob van Wechem, Zhico Hu, Michael Holtzapfel, Herman van Dijk, Marjolein Boers and Walter Jans. Together they focus on account management, asset management and sales.
The team joined InsingerGillissen in 2018 from Oyens & Van Eeghen, which was acquired at that time by Belgian private bank Delen. Even then, the reason for the departure, which incidentally took place in good harmony, was that Delen was going to standardise its solutions. As a result, there was no place left for the customised solutions of the asset management team. With the management of Quintet taking up the reins, the team of “private banking veteran” Baljet reportedly believes that a similar development to that of Delen is now taking place at InsingerGilissen. The team believes that standardisation no longer serves the interests of wealthy clients.
News of the departure of the authoritative team in the sector was shared with the entire staff of InsingerGilissen during Friday afternoon. The departure has been a topic of conversation in the sector in the Netherlands for some time. The dissatisfaction is great, especially among asset managers and advisors of the bank who are in daily contact with clients who are used to receiving customised services. But the management at Quintet is cutting back hard on the local private banks, which are now called “branches”, according to people familiar with the firm.
Staff to be replaced
InsingerGilissen’s managing director Frank Koster told his staff on Friday afternoon that the departed team would be replaced.
The team led by Baljet will start work at Bank ten Cate & Cie on 1 October and will not, in principle, take on any clients. At Ten Cate the leadership is currently in the hands of Reinier Westeneng. His fellow board member Wouter Haanappel previously worked at InsingerGilissen.
Bank ten Cate & Cie is a small independent bank with assets under management of approximately €4 billion. The bank recently told Investment Officer that it had difficulty attracting private bankers. With the arrival of the Baljet team, that problem now seems to be solved to some extent. There are presently about 35 relationship bankers working at ten Cate.
Related articles on Investment Officer:
Luxembourg:
- Quintet: InsingerGillissen Dutch team joins Auréus
- Credit Suisse hires Quintet’s Purcell for sustainability
- HSBC’s Chris Allen named Group CEO at Quintet
Netherlands: