EUROPE – KAS Bank is due to open an office in Germany in the second half of this year, according to managing director Laurens Vis.
“We will go on the ground in Germany in the course of the second half of this year. We will open an office quite probably in the Frankfurt area,” he told IPE.
KAS Bank is currently interviewing new candidates to head up the outfit after an initial appointment to the position fell through.
The bank is also currently interviewing candidates for the position of head of institutional investors in the UK. It entered the UK market in 2001.
Ideally, the suitable candidate would have sales and acquisition (S&A) capacity as well as managerial capacity.
Vis told IPE: “As far as growing the business, S&A is important… At least the growth potential via sales and acquisitions must be into the profile – that’s our first priority, no doubt.
“If the_candidate ‘comes along in the flesh’ so to speak with management capacity, then obviously it would be very beneficial too to be further tuned into the UK market from our London office.”
The UK institutional chief will focus on expanding KAS Bank’s UK institutional client base as well as expanding its network in the pension fund and asset management industry, said the job description.
These developments follow media reports that KAS is looking to break from organic growth strategies and increase its market share through acquisitions.
Vis told reporters the bank is currently in discussions with two parties. An announcement is expected soon.
At the start of April, KAS named John van Scheijndel as chief financial officer and Hans Kadiks to the board, with responsibility for client focus.
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