MeesPierson opens office in Jakarta

Executives of financial services provider MeesPierson, including CEO Rob H.L. ten Heggeler (second left) and MeesPierson Indonesia president director Marc H.J. Hedeman Joosten (center), converse after announcing the opening of their representative office here in Jakarta.

MeesPierson has been a worldwide, premium provider of both private and corporate financing, which spans three centuries. It has a team of 2,500 professionals managing a total of 53 billion euro (some US$75 billion) in assets worldwide.

In Asia, MeesPierson, which is now the private bank and trust division of international financial services group Fortis, has been providing its services since 1988, through its offices in Singapore, Hongkong, Shanghai and Dubai.

"We are here to answer the many requests from our clients who have been asking if we could help them with their financial management needs in Indonesia," Heggeler said.

"We would also like to offer to others our `holistic' approach in wealth management, in which we listen carefully to our clients in identifying both their financial and non-financial management needs."

Joosten said further that one of firm's initial services here would be helping clients manage their wealth for philanthropic purposes, such as charity fund-raising.

As for foundations and non-governmental organizations, Joosten hopes that MeesPierson, which is one of the initiators of the Jakarta Chapter of the Fund Raising Association, can provide them with consulting services in improving their transparency and accountability in their charity activities.

MeesPierson is one of the world's best in the field, having received the "Best Private Bank in Philanthropy" title from Euromoney magazine in 2004. -- JP