Robeco CEO quits after losing board support

NETHERLANDS – Robeco says chief executive Géry Daeninck has resigned as of June 30 and will be replaced by former Euronext executive George Möller.

A spokesman for the Rotterdam-based asset management arm of Rabobank said that Daeninck felt he did not have the support of the supervisory board and that there was “no chemistry”. Daeninck does not have another job lined up, the spokesman added.

Möller, 56, was formerly a member of the executive board and chief operating officer of Euronext. Before that he was CEO of Amsterdam Exchanges, and was instrumental in the merger that formed Euronext. He has no direct experience of running an asset management company, according to his CV.

The spokesman said he was a “businessman with vision” and that Robeco would not change its strategy.

Robeco’s supervisory board chairman Paul van den Hoek thanked Daeninck “for the great commitment and loyalty he has shown over the years as both CFO and CEO”.

Möller would “will give further shape to Robeco's ambitions to reinforce its market-leading position in the Netherlands and its institutional, retail and third-party distribution activities in Europe and the US”.

Euronext announced Möller’s departure last year and last month disclosed a severance payment of 1.5 million euros.

It said: “The supervisory board and managing board wish to express their gratitude to Mr Möller for his excellent contributions which he made to the company and its predecessors.”

Last month Robeco reported a 48% rise in net profit and said it was looking to “forcefully grow” its European institutional business.

Möller’s appointment is subject to the approval of the Dutch regulator and still has to be submitted to the company's Works Council. He was a member of the Tabaksblat corporate governance committee.