 Kathy Dolk is managing director and partner of H&P Trust Company (Netherlands) B.V. in the Netherlands since 2007. H&P worldwide provides comprehensive and efficient company incorporation and administration services in all relevant offshore and onshore jurisdictions. They administer private foundations and offshore trusts, both classic elements in international tax and estate planning. In the Netherlands they administer and manager Dutch corporate entities for mostly European private shareholders.
H&P increased their activities in the Netherlands and recently moved to a larger office reasons enough for the Swedish Chamber to visit their premises in Amsterdam Zuid Oost and have a chat with MD Kathy Dolk, member of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the JCC.
Tell us about your business, what you do and how you work?
“I started the firm here in the Netherlands in 2007, says Kathy Dolk.
“We have offices in Cyprus, Luxembourg, Switzerland, The Netherlands Antilles
and Liechtenstein and are on our way to open an office in Malta. I started my
career at Holland Van Gijzen in 2000 and then I joined First Alliance Trust in 2001,
working with Henk Lokin. I decided to leave the firm after five years in 2006. Why did you move to a larger office?
“The number of employees has increased and we needed more space.
I started alone here and shared offices with another trust firm at the other
side of the hallway and now we have grown to 6 employees and one freelance accountant.” What do you think the reason is for your prosperous company?
“In this branch it is a lot about knowing your clients and to be entrusted
with responsibility. We put a lot of effort to get a personal contact with our
clients and work with that as a main focus within the firm. We are also not
charging such a high fee for our clients as some of our competitors do.
We are a relatively small team here at H&P Trust in Amsterdam, which
makes us very dynamic. It is also easier to have a wide overview over
the company since we all are working together and everyone is involved
in the whole process. Have you felt that the financial crisis has affected the company?
Not really. Our clients have a great span over a variety in different
branches which is good in times like this. Of course some of our clients
have a tough time now and their business are less prosperous then before.
So far I haven’t received many signals that our clients are having any
problems that have affected us directly. This branch in general is quite
stabile and I don’t think that we will have any big consequences from
the credit crisis for our company. Compare the business with when you started and today?
We have learned a lot along the way. I started alone and today we are six.
We have grown bigger as a business and stronger as individuals. For example,
I never thought that I would start my own business. One must have faith in
your self because you are able to do a lot more than you think. Do you have Swedish clients?
Yes, we have mostly Swedish clients. I never thought that we
would work with so many Swedish companies. But one of the reasons
I started at First Alliance Trust was my interest in Sweden and most
of their clients were Swedish. It felt natural to continue working with the
niche with Swedish companies, as I am half Swedish myself. How do you get the Swedish clients?
Do they get to you or do you find them?
The most common is that they come to us. They heard about us
through business associates or through recommendations from
legal tax experts that we cooperate with. So far we have had no
need for marketing our business actively and the mouth to mouth
method is very confiding.
Where do you think H & P will be in 4 years?
We will be with 15 employees. And active in markets like Poland,
The Baltic Stated, Italy and Turkey. Do you see that you have a lot to gain from your connections
with the Swedish Chamber of Commerce?
Of course I see that the membership in JCC and the Swedish Chamber
of Commerce have been very fruitful and it has worked as a door opener.
It has carried along many good contacts which have resulted in some new clients. How do you like your new office?
It feels very good to have been moving to a bigger office. It already
feels like home. Of course we miss our colleagues that we shared our
former office with. Now we have very good furniture from Kinnarps and
a marvellous view over the Arena and on the other side we are able to
see IKEA. You are a very active member in the Swedish Chamber of Commerce
and the JCC, does it work to handle them both?
We have a shared chief responsibility. It’s me and Annemarie van Munster.
I prefer to have a shared responsibility so that the business can always go
on and is not only depending on one person. By Maria Tervahauta
Intern Swedish Chamber of Commerce
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