IQ-EQ is pleased to announce two senior appointments in our Amsterdam office. Stefan de Kort joins us as Director, Fund Services, while Laurens de Lange – who joined the group in 2018 – has been promoted to Compliance Leader for the Netherlands. Both will be members of the local leadership team.
Stefan de Kort has 20+ years’ financial services experience, including 12 years in senior management roles spanning continental Europe. He has particular experience in the fund services sector, with a focus on business development and client service. Prior to joining IQ-EQ, Stefan held regional leadership positions with a number of prominent international financial service providers; he has led jurisdictional branches, including Zürich and Luxembourg as well as the Netherlands, and headed up key departments including Client Solutions and Depositary Services.
Most recently, Stefan was self-employed as a business solutions consultant, supporting financial services companies with their go-to-market strategies and designing client service approaches to accelerate new business growth. Stefan has an MBA from Purdue University and TIAS Business School.
Laurens de Lange joined IQ-EQ Netherlands in 2018 and was previously Senior Compliance Manager and General Counsel for the firm’s fund services and structured finance teams in the jurisdiction. Since graduating with law degree from Leiden University, Laurens has garnered 25+ years’ experience in the industry. Before IQ-EQ, he was Managing Director of a boutique asset manager specialised in global equity stocks and bonds selection. Other notable experience includes his tenure as Commercial Director for private bank Effectenbank Stroeve (now InsingerGilissen), during which time the firm’s professional services division became Dutch market leader.
Notably, when IQ-EQ Netherlands became one of the first 50 financial services businesses to sign the new Dutch Climate Agreement in 2019, Laurens was the one who signed the agreement on behalf of IQ-EQ, in the presence of the Dutch Minister of Finance, Wopke Hoekstra.
Both Stefan and Laurens will report directly to Luc Hollman, Managing Director of IQ-EQ Netherlands. He commented:
“It gives me great pleasure to welcome Stefan to IQ-EQ and to be able to reward Laurens’ excellent contribution over the past couple of years. The Netherlands leadership team and I are confident that Laurens’ legal expertise in the fund and asset management space will add great value to the extensive corporate knowledge already available within our compliance team.
“Equally, we are excited for Stefan to bring his significant business development and service delivery experience to IQ-EQ. I look forward to seeing him work closely with his colleagues both locally and across our global group to nurture strong relationships with clients and industry partners, identify new opportunities and help drive organic business growth.”