ABN Amro starts competition for funds to pitch at investor forum
December 06, 2012
Six alternative investment funds are being offered the chance to pitch to more than 200 institutional investors, funds of funds and high net worth individuals at the second Amsterdam Investors Forum (AIF), organised by ABN Amro Clearing on 13 February 2013.
The competition is open to all funds regardless of size, location, investment targets or style – either active or prospective. Participants are required to send a maximum 150 word submission to amsterdaminvestorforum@nl.abnamro.com by 22 December. Selected funds will make a three-minute pitch at the Forum and delegates will vote for the first winner of ‘The AIF Factor’.
“This is a unique opportunity for alternative investment funds of every kind to present to a who’s who of the Dutch alternative investment scene and some of the largest specialist international investors. We are looking for submissions which are compelling, provocative and show entrepreneurship – what makes your fund stand out,” commented Jan-Bart de Boer, chief commercial officer of ABN Amro Clearing.
The Amsterdam Investors Forum is returning for a second year, following its launch as the leading alternative investment event in the Netherlands. Next year’s Forum will again be held at the group’s head office at Gustav Mahlerlaan and speakers will include prominent fund managers, regulators, lawyers and related industry professionals.
ABN Amro Clearing has a long history of partnering with start-up funds as well as established alternative investment vehicles, providing them with integrated solutions for their execution, clearing, custody and financing. The event is also supported by ABN Amro Private Banking’s Alternatives & Funds team.
Interest in alternative investment among Dutch investors – which include some of the world’s largest and most sophisticated pension funds, insurance funds and wealth managers – remains strong and the Netherlands is the first EU member to adopt the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), according to Marc de Kloe, head of alternatives and funds at ABN Amro Private Banking.
“The event will focus on opportunities and challenges in the alternative investment industry and provides a strategic meeting place for institutional investors and alternative investment managers,” he said.
A subsidiary ABN Amro Bank, ABN Amro Clearing is one of the world’s leading providers of independent third-party clearing and financing services for listed derivatives and cash securities, OTC products, warrants, commodities and FX.
Separately, Robert Booij has been appointed as the new managing director of ABN Amro Clearing in the UK and will move to London to take up his new role. He was previously global head of enterprise risk management for ABN Amro Clearing based in Amsterdam.
Booij joined Fortis in 2007 and was deputy head of business control at Fortis Clearing from 2008, before Fortis Bank Nederland was merged into the new ABN Amro in 2010. Before that he worked at the Netherlands’ Authority for Financial Markets (AFM) from 2002 as a supervisor for Euronext. This included a six-month secondment to the markets division of the UK’s Financial Services Authority in 2004 as a supervisor for LCH.Clearnet Ltd.