Success Stories: Benelux Vice President

Last month we closed a VP search for the Benelux coverage team of a global bulge bracket bank. We mapped 105 bankers, presented a shortlist of five and placed a VP2 from a direct competitor.

Benelux is one of the thinnest talent pools in European investment banking. The number of mid-level bankers with the right seniority, the right coverage experience and the language skills to work the region credibly is small, and very few of them are looking. This means that a need can quickly become critical as the bank is not choosing from a wide pool. It is choosing from a handful of people, most of whom are happy where they are.

The Brief

The gap in the team opened up when an incumbent VP left for a role abroad. That left the Benelux team without a key execution and coverage lead at a point when client dialogue needed extra care and an experienced hand.

The bank's in-house talent team had the process and the relationships, but not the specialist reach. They needed a search partner who already understood who sat where in Benelux coverage, who was credible at the right level, who might realistically move and how to best market the position. The brief was clear: a VP with existing regional experience, fluent Dutch and the seniority to step straight into the role.

The Search

We started from the market rather than from a database. Our team mapped 105 bankers across the Benelux coverage landscape, at bulge bracket banks, international advisory firms and the leading independents, and assessed each against the agreed assessment matrix.

We found that a VP on paper is not always a VP in practice, and in a region this small the differences matter: who is originating rather than inheriting, who has led client relationships in the local language, and who has the mixture of technical experience (has been on the right projects) and entrepreneurial drive to make the position their own. It also meant understanding timing, because the strongest candidates were not on the market.

From that population we presented a shortlist of five. Each was relevant, credible at the required level and keen to engage with the opportunity.

The Outcome

The bank appointed one of our five, hired at the VP2 level from a direct competitor. The new VP brings established Benelux coverage experience, the language skills that the role demands and the seniority to lead deals from day one.

Hiring from a direct competitor is rarely straightforward. It takes an accurate read of what will move someone who is performing well and careful handling of the process from the first approach through to acceptance. That is where most of the work on this search went.

The search also left us with a detailed picture of the Benelux banking population, from associate to managing director.

Conclusion

When a senior banker leaves a small regional team, the replacement is rarely going to come from an advert. They have to be located, understood and persuaded, and in a pool this small every conversation counts.