Too many consultancies offering their services these days? No more niches to find? Not according to Rob Heyvaert, a 34-year-old financial entrepreneur from Belgium. Having already set up and run a software business, and having had a stint at IBM, he's now returned to running his own show. In April this year he started canvassing for capital, and partners, to help develop his new business, the Capital Markets Company, or CapCo.
The aim of CapCo is to offer an integrated approach to using technology to improve risk management and operational-efficiency levels at investment banks. He got the idea during his time as head of IBM's securities and capital markets global solutions group. IBM had bought his first company, Cimad Consultants, in 1995.
"When I was still at IBM I went to see the heads of all the major financial institutions on Wall Street," says Heyvaert. "I asked three questions: what do you think of IBM? What do you want from us? And what do you spend most of your time thinking about? This last one was the spark, as many of them mentioned systems and operational management. It was the perfect niche."
So in April he left IBM and set up CapCo, luring several bankers to join him as partners in the business, including John Owen, formerly global head of derivatives operations at Bankers Trust; a former managing director at JP Morgan, Erwin de Keyzer; and Sumitomo's former head of operations, Roger Preece.