Jacques Prost strolls into view and stares, unblinking, right down the barrel of the lens. A few seconds pass, then a few more, until it becomes clear he is perfectly happy to think and speak on two legs for the duration of our Zoom call, rather than choosing to rest in a chair on six.
Asked if he always stands up for meetings, he replies, deadpan: “Yes. It’s the best way to stay in good shape.”
Fair enough – though it does make him loom somewhat. A professorial air takes me back to high school, evoking memories of being admonished for chatting at the back of class.
It has taken a few months to pin Prost down. There has been a lot of diary-shuffling and more than one postponement, and for good reason. It has been a busy summer for the chief executive of Indosuez Wealth Management.
A few weeks earlier, the wealth management arm of French banking firm Crédit Agricole finalised the acquisition of a 65% stake in Degroof Petercam, a Brussels-based private bank and asset manager – marking its biggest splash in the M&A market for many years.
The deal, whose value was undisclosed, marks the start of a new era for Indosuez, which expects to emerge as a leader in European wealth management.
