Press conferences, especially spontaneously convened ones, have become rarer since the coronavirus pandemic. It therefore felt a bit like travelling in a time machine when ABN Amro announced the takeover of Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe (HAL), which had only been announced a few hours earlier, at its subsidiary Bethmann Bank last summer. It was all the more disconcerting that HAL CEO Michael Bentlage, of all people, was absent from the podium, the manager who had grown the private bank to considerable size in recent years despite adverse market conditions.

Speculation immediately ran rampant. Had he been taken by surprise on holiday? A conflict with the future owners? To this day, the institutions involved and their advisors have remained elegantly silent. However, behind closed doors, there is talk of a misunderstanding with the seller, the Chinese conglomerate Fosun.

The fact that the Dutch are keeping a low profile on whether they want to keep Bentlage is due to the timetable. The transaction is not expected to be finalised until the second quarter. At least 12 months will have passed between the press conference and the day on which all the authorities have given the green light. However, no merger-related personnel decisions can be made before then.

And Bentlage? He appears relaxed. If the unfortunate situation in the days just ahead of the European Football Championship last summer offended him, he is not letting it show.

Bentlage has now turned 60. In a recent interview with Börsen-Zeitung, the sporty-looking manager said that this is not an age at which one can still speculate on an international corporate career in Amsterdam. The change of ownership would have had to come sooner for that – but both institutions were not yet where they are today.

The Augsburg-born manager has also seen large corporations from the inside. Before he became a partner at the private bank in Munich in 2009, which was still operating as Hauck Aufhäuser at the time, he worked for Allianz and Bayerische Hypotheken-und Wechselbank, one of the two predecessor institutions of HypoVereinsbank, which is now part of Unicredit.

However, Bentlage is not thinking of retiring either. Following an extension last summer, his contract still runs until the end of 2028 and he is prepared to fulfil it under the new owners.

Bentlage studied business informatics and is a passionate asset manager. Although asset management only generates just under 10% of the gross profit margin, he believes that maintaining a team of almost 60 people in this business area is no luxury. „Asset management is an important driver for private banking,“ says Bentlage, well aware that this is a unique selling point of HAL. The fact that the division generates its income alongside gains for its clients is a matter close to his heart.