Financial services

The banking sector in the Netherlands was hit severely by the credit crisis and the demerger of ABN Amro. Signs of recovery have emerged but recruitment activity is significantly below the levels for previous years.

Most of the international financial businesses are located in the Amsterdam and Rotterdam areas. Many foreign insurance companies are based in the Amsterdam region. The Dutch pension funds/insurers are worth mentioning: they manage assets of over €190 billion euros and therefore asset (liability) management is becoming increasingly important.

Given the increasingly specific and complex nature of skills, we are seeing a growing need for highly commercial people and we expect this trend to continue.