“We are staying close to our clients”

Robert Swaak looks back and ahead after five years at the helm of ABN AMRO. He explains why it’s crucial for the bank to stay close to its clients and discusses its performance in 2024. “We are closing out a successful year, in which we delivered on all three pillars of our strategy.”

In 2024, ABN AMRO launched its new brand promise ‘For every new beginning’. How is the bank bringing this promise to life?

“First of all, I’m happy that we have been able to focus the bank in such a way that we are now able to articulate a brand promise. We are a personal bank in the digital age, offering convenience in daily banking and expertise at moments that matter. Whether it’s a new home, starting a business or international expansion, retirement or a new career, we are here to help clients move forward. This requires us to stay close to our clients and operate as one bank. We must infuse the expertise we have in wealth management and corporate banking into all our client relationships. That’s how we add value to every new beginning.

Convenience in daily banking also means that we need to be easily accessible to clients. Once clients have been in touch with us, our Net Promoter Scores, which show their willingness to recommend the bank, are high. Personal & Business Banking started out at low levels, and we are slowly seeing improvements in our scores. We have almost doubled our pool of Help with Banking advisers, who support clients who have difficulty using banking services. Another way to improve the customer experience is generative AI. It already helps train our staff, summarises calls with clients and allows us to find answers to their questions faster, so we can fully focus on the conversation.”

What kind of year was 2024, for ABN AMRO and the world around us?

“We live in a world that is evolving at enormous speed. Not only because of the US President’s measures and decrees – other parts of the world are also seeing massive shifts. The upside is that Europe has a lot to offer in this changing world, but it must stick to implementing its plans and improve its competitiveness.

The same goes for ABN AMRO. We have to focus on what we can do ourselves to improve our position. On that note, I’m glad to say that it was a year of execution and delivery for the bank. From a commercial perspective, we are delivering in the growth segments we have identified. We did so in mortgages, where our share of new production increased from 16% to 19% in 2024 and in corporate banking, where we continued to grow throughout the year in our transition themes: new energies, digital and mobility. We also expanded our wealth management practice and began to build traction in the affluent segment. Finally, I am very pleased with our fee income growth, which came in above our 3-5% growth ambition. These are all clear signs that we are adding value for our clients.”

A strong performance despite the geopolitical turmoil, what does that say about the bank?

“It shows our investors that the bank’s strategy is paying off. Our decision in 2020 to focus on Northwest Europe makes our exposure more manageable. We were able to contain our cost of risk, as we benefit from our diversified sectoral portfolio. As a result, our impairments were extremely limited. Finally, we benefitted from carefully managing our interest-rate risk as central bank rates came down. Our Dutch mortgage business is a great example of our ability to play into market developments to add value for clients. Any time the market moves, we are the bank that is able to process huge volumes. We have relevant brands that can pick up different segments and our flexible pricing allows us to quickly adjust our offering if needed.”

What areas still need a lot of attention?

“As we grow the bank, we must continue to be mindful of costs and our capital efficiency. In 2024, we delivered on our cost guidance. We did so while also future-proofing the bank by investing in our people and our IT capability. Still, regulatory remediation programmes account for a large part of our costs as we invest to meet the required standards. We need to remain highly cost-disciplined as we continue to simplify our credit-risk models and improve our data capabilities. Both can help bring down our risk-weighted assets (RWAs), which determine how much money the bank needs to set aside for potential losses, and make our capital use more efficient.”

The bank agreed to acquire Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe. Why is this a good fit?

“HAL is a top-notch German bank, that targets a client segment we have prioritised. The acquisition will make us one of the top three private banks in Germany. It also fits with our strategy to grow the bank in a capital-efficient way across Northwest Europe. HAL will add to our fee income, which is a source of income that doesn’t put too much pressure on ABN AMRO’s capital.

We also decided to sell our stake in the French life insurance joint venture Neuflize Vie and wind down non-strategic client portfolios in our Asset Based Finance business in the UK and Germany. If the performance of a part of the bank is not sufficient or not strategically accretive, we need to act. That helps us to free up capital that we can reinvest in growth segments.”

How did the bank move forward on sustainability in 2024?

“There are a whole host of things I’m excited about. First of all, we aim to have financed at least EUR 10 billion in renewable energy by 2030. This is up from a previous target of at least EUR 4 billion by 2025, which was achieved two years early. We continued to grow in our transition themes and used our expertise to help clients become more sustainable. We aim to play a role in halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030, as we set out in our Nature Statement published last year. To achieve that, we have committed to using and expanding our influence as a bank to reduce negative impact and enhance positive impact on nature. Also in 2024, we progressed on our climate strategy, setting more targets for our portfolios. But we need to continue to improve the way we use data to advance our sustainability objectives and how we report on them. Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our age and it is vital that we become a more sustainable society in a responsible and fair way. It should be a just transition that does not leave whole groups behind.”

How do you see the future of the bank?

“There is a lot that we still need to do better, which includes simplifying the bank. But if I look at the direction, leveraging the strength of our wealth management business, the potential of the corporate bank and the success of our retail offering, I feel really good about the future. On that note, I am very pleased with the intended nomination of Marguerite Bérard as my successor. I am confident that she will successfully lead the bank forward, building on our strong foundations.”

What would you say to the bank’s people and what impressed you in their work?

“We have navigated the bank through a pandemic, an energy crisis, two recessions and a destabilising global environment while transforming the bank, it has been almost a perfect storm, if you will. Our people have worked through another year of change and uncertainty, while their engagement has continued to be very high. Yes, there’s still a lot of work to be done, but let’s also look at everything we have accomplished together with all our colleagues around the world who stand ready every day. I am extremely proud of them. Their commitment and expertise give me the confidence in the continued success of the bank.”