History

It specialised mainly in trading in colonial goods bought at auctions and through trading partners in the provinces of Holland and Zeeland. These goods were then sold in 's-Hertogenbosch and its surrounding area.

Some of these colonial goods were produced with slave labour. In 2022, independent research by Leiden University concluded that Van Lanschot was indirectly involved in slavery in this way.

Read the research into Van Lanschot Kempen's slavery past and our respons. 

1799 saw the third generation of Van Lanschots step up to the helm: Franciscus van Lanschot renamed the company by then established at De Markt, a square at the heart of 's-Hertogenbosch, to Firma F. van Lanschot. Over the next few decades, financial services were added to its trading activities. Van Lanschot increasingly carrying out payment orders and collecting moneys for clients, as well as granting loans to entrepreneurs.

Around 1881, Van Lanschot stops its trading activities, as the creation of the Zuid-Willemsvaart canal at the beginning of the century had severely reduced trading and handling at 's-Hertogenbosch. From this year onwards, Van Lanschot focused entirely on deposit-taking, banking and trading in securities. 

In the 1980s and 1990s, Kempen & Co primarily focused on investment banking and asset management. It was acquired and delisted in 2001 by Dexia Bank, but continued operations under the name of Kempen & Co. In 2007, it was sold to Van Lanschot Bankiers to become a subsidiary of the bank.

The year 1929 has gone down in history as the year of the US stock market crash, which sparked the Great Depression. Compared with other sectors, the Dutch banking industry survived the crisis of the 1930s relatively unscathed. 

In 1978, Van Lanschot moves away from the structure it had used since its inception and became a public limited company (NV), as part of a drive towards greater transparency. Rabobank, insurer Delta Lloyd and the UK’s NatWest became shareholders. Van Lanschot started to publish annual reports.

In 1990, well over 250 years after its foundation in 1737, the Van Lanschot family business ended when NatWest increased its holding in the company to 80%. The death of chairman Jan Cees van Lanschot a year later spelled the end to the family’s presence on the executive board. Incidentally, NatWest sold on its stake in 1994.

In later years, the family returned in a supervisory capacity when Godfried van Lanschot was appointed as a member of the Supervisory Board in 2006. He ended up serving three four-year terms and departed in 2018, the ninth and last generation of the Van Lanschot family leaving the company.

As part of further growth in private banking Van Lanschot cross borders in for the first time in 1991: it opened an office in Antwerp. Ten more Belgian offices followed in the years after, including in Turnhout, Lanaken and Ghent. The move into Switzerland was made in 1995, when offices opened in Geneva and Zurich. 

In 1999, Van Lanschot was listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. It's the final touches on the change that had been made to the shareholder structure. The IPO improved Van Lanschot’s access to the capital markets and boosted brand awareness.

A quarter of a century on, Van Lanschot Kempen shares feature in the AMX Index and the AEX ESG Index, which is made up of the country’s 25 most sustainable listed companies.

In 2007, Van Lanschot acquired merchant bank Kempen & Co, creating the foundations of what would grow into Van Lanschot Kempen today. The acquisition doubled assets under management (AuM) and bolstered the company’s position among its target clients: high net worth individuals and entrepreneurs, institutional investors and businesses.

After the acquisition, Van Lanschot’s institutional asset management and securities operations were integrated into Kempen & Co, which continued to operate as merchant bank serving institutional investors and companies. Private bank Van Lanschot continued to target high net worth individuals and family businesses.

In 2013, Van Lanschot embarked on a strategic reorientation as a key part of its drive towards the future. It made a clear choice to bolster its positioning as an independent, specialist wealth manager focusing on the preservation and creation of wealth in a sustainable way, for both its clients and for society.

Its strategic overhaul left Van Lanschot with three core activities: Private Banking, Asset Management and Merchant Banking. Corporate lending did not fit in with strategic objectives and was phased out.

In 2021, Van Lanschot Kempen completed its takeover of Dutch wealth manager Hof Hoorneman Bankiers, a fresh step in its growth strategy. Assets under management, client relationships and specialists all helped it to further strengthen its position in private banking and asset management.

The same year saw Van Lanschot Kempen announce its intention to acquire 70% in Belgian wealth manager Mercier Vanderlinden, doubling its size in Belgium. Two years later, the remaining 30% was added, and Van Lanschot Belgium and Mercier Vanderlinden have been operating in Belgium under the name of Mercier Van Lanschot since 2024.

In 2023, Van Lanschot Kempen demonstrated its commitment to Evi’s growth ambitions by nabbing Robeco’s online investment platform. In one move, the merger of the two platforms turned Evi into one of the country’s biggest investment platform for private individuals. A response to investor demand for an independent Dutch player, the takeover also strengthened Van Lanschot Kempen’s online investment proposition.