Kris De Souter from Degroof Petercam is our Advisor of the Month

Kris De Souter is the Head of Private Banking and member of the Executive Committee at Banque Degroof Petercam Luxembourg. Mr. De Souter has over 25 years of experience in traditional & alternative asset management, private banking, family office and wealth management. He joined the Degroof Petercam Group in 2018 in Belgium where he was in charge of the Group's Family Office. Kris De Souter holds a Master in Commerce and Finance (EHSAL, Brussels) as well as a CFA (CFA Institute, Charlottesville, USA), CAIA (CAIA Association, Amherst, USA) and LEAP (Paris/Singapore, INSEAD).

What made you want to pursue a career in the financial industry? And what do you find more attractive about working in the asset management industry?

I could have become a civil aviation airplane pilot but, in the end, the suspense surrounding my career was short-lived. As a teenager I was already strongly interested in the financial markets in particular the stock market. For me, after my studies, going to work in the financial industry was an obvious and natural choice. And I am still enjoying it after more 25 years working for different financial institutions.  When working in finance, you realize that every day is different, presents new opportunities and challenges and that you need to assess the impact of macro-economic and financial news on the portfolios and asset allocation strategy of our clients. 

How does a normal day look like? How do you divide your different tasks?

When working in finance, you realize that every day is different, presents new opportunities and challenges; and that you need to assess the impact of macro-economic and financial news on the portfolios and asset allocation strategy of our clients. So difficult to have a typical day but usually I spend a lot of time managing my teams, meeting existing and potential clients, defining priorities and imagining what new offerings for our clients.   

What is in your view the most important part of wealth management and advisory?

Trust, knowledge, client centricity, providing clients with solid long-term solutions while having a holistic view of a client. 

What are your clients asking for at the moment? 

The most typical questions for the moment are:

Which sectors do you think are particularly interesting at the moment?

The current market environment is characterized by high uncertainty, low visibility, and multiple risks: inflation, ongoing war Russia/Ukraine, failure of US regional banks, forced sale of Credit Suisse, hawkish Central Banks around the world, etc. Against such a context, it is important to run a diversified and well-balanced portfolio with not too much outspoken bets. Let’s not forget that the only free lunch investors are offered by the market is diversification. As an investment house we prefer US equities over European and Emerging Market equities, and we give preference to healthcare and technology stocks over financial & industrial stocks while we believe high quality bonds (investment grade) should be part of a well-balanced portfolio. The US dollar should have a solid place in such portfolios

Have you seen a change in the profile of your clients in the last years? How would you describe your average client?

Each client is unique. Each client has its own goals, objectives, constraints, wishes, risk-return expectations, and investment horizon. Our clients are historical wealthy families and wealthy individuals who are often family business owners across Europe. And, for several years now, our clients have been telling us that they are interested in investing much more with a positive impact. So ESG considerations are now part of our daily investment routine.

How would you define yourself in 3 words? 

Entrepreneurial, passionate and result oriented.