Dunedin backed Hawksford, the leading international corporate, private client and funds business, has appointed a new CEO Michel van Leeuwen, to drive its ambitious growth plans. Mr van Leeuwen is an experienced financial services and fin-tech business leader who brings industry expertise from leadership roles at Cordium and Microsoft Capital Markets.
Hawksford was backed by UK mid-market private equity house Dunedin in October 2008 and is a good example of how Dunedin invests in UK companies and then helps them to grow internationally. With Dunedin’s support Hawksford established a presence in Singapore in 2014 with the acquisition of Janus Corporate Solutions, the fifth acquisition made by the business since it was backed by Dunedin and further strengthened its foothold in Asia by opening an office in Hong Kong in 2015.
The appointment of Michel van Leeuwen underpins the internationalisation theme, as well as the company’s accelerated growth strategy which includes plans to double the overall size of the business and increase its geographic footprint over the next three to five years. Under Mr van Leeuwen’s direction the business plans to expand its core corporate, private clients and funds service lines whilst simultaneously introducing additional ancillary services.
Prior to joining Hawksford Mr van Leeuwen was group CEO of private equity backed-Cordium, the provider of regulatory compliance consulting services to the asset management and securities industry and under his stewardship the business successfully selected and integrated eight strategic acquisitions, delivering strong organic growth for the business.
Prior to Cordium, Mr van Leeuwen served as managing director of Microsoft and was responsible for delivering nearly $1 billion revenues across the global capital markets industry. He also served as CEO of the Risk Management division at Misys plc and was a member of its operating board. Earlier positions include senior roles at State Street Bank and Algorithmics.
David Williams, partner of Dunedin who is on the Board of Hawksford comments: “We are delighted that Michel has joined Hawksford and his impressive track record of growing businesses including those backed by private equity, will allow the business to deliver on its growth ambitions. In the last five years Hawksford has completed five acquisitions and has strengthened its international presence through the expansion of the team in Asia. With Michel at the helm, we plan to double the size of the business over the next three to five years and to further increase the company’s geographic reach.
“Acting CEO Michael Powell and CFO Steve Spybey have done a fantastic job of managing the business over the last year, ensuring that Mr van Leeuwen can now take the reins of a well-structured business that is poised for growth.”
Hawksford has 220 employees and offices in Jersey, the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.