Claus came to Gibraltar from his native Denmark in 1991, and has become completely involved in the community as well as having a busy job at ABN AMRO. As a senior private banker (and marketing manager), his expertise helps his clients make the most of their investments.

He is also very involved in the Gibraltar Dyslexia Support Group along with his Gibraltarian wife, Jackie, whom he met whilst they were both working for another local bank. In fact, he is continuing as the dyslexia group’s media coordinator and secretary, and has also been a committee member of several local sports associations as well as playing an active role in the Gibraltar Institute for Financial Services committee.

Claus has a personal interest in dyslexia as both his son, aged 9, and his father are dyslexic, although Claus himself missed out on this learning difficulty, which often is hereditary. Claus told me that schools can be very frightening places for dyslexic children as they struggle to keep up, but there are many simple ways of making their lives easier. In this respect, he was pleased to tell me that, following talks with the dyslexia support group, the Department of Education has improved the schooling provision for dyslexics, although there is still room for improvement.

Around 10% of the world is believed to be dyslexic to some degree, which would suggest that around 3,000 people in Gibraltar are affected.

Born in the far north of Denmark in 1967, Claus studied at a business school, where, he told me, he was the only student there who didn’t want to go into banking. So his first job was with a building society as an estate agent in their sales department, although it wasn’t always a happy occasion when selling properties that the society had repossessed.

Meanwhile, he had read a lot about Gibraltar and that several Danish companies were here; also that many of their Danish staff loved the Rock. ‘It struck me as a good way of living abroad,’ he told me at his office in Europort. ‘I saw it was also a good place to practise English and Spanish - and, unknown to me at the time, a good place to meet my wife!’

Claus came out here on spec: ‘I gave myself one month to find a job. I was strict with myself on that - I bought a return ticket for one month, but didn’t use it as I was soon working for Varde Bank.’ After that he worked for Jyske Bank and the RBS before settling with ABN AMRO Private Banking.

‘At first I didn’t think I could actually live in Gibraltar,’ he said. ‘I found its closeness a bit daunting; but now I’m very happy here - it’s a great place, especially when you are bringing up kids.’

Although he is the marketing manager, he prefers to describe himself as a team worker, saying that it’s the team that wins, with the individuals playing their roles in the team’s victory.

He has around 35 colleagues working in the very spacious offices at the private bank, who between them cover many nationalities and all the main languages.

ABN AMRO is, of course, no newcomer to Gibraltar. It set up shop here 43 years ago as the Med Bank, taking over the premises of the former Imperial Cafe on the corner of Main Street and Cooperage Lane, now Seruya’s perfume shop. The company that carried out the refurbishment to turn the cafe into a bank was none other than BIA, the big hardware company, which also had a building department at the time. As the bank expanded it outgrew the premises and had some staff working in the ICC until, around seven years ago, they closed down their retail services and all moved to Europort to concentrate on private banking.

Now, Claus and his fellow advisers look after the wealth and portfolio management for around 1000 clients, of whom 100 look to Claus for advice. ABN AMRO, which does business in over 150 countries, offer both ‘advisory’ and ‘discretionary’ services out of the Gibraltar office. Advisory is increasingly popular as there is close contact with the clients, whilst some prefer the ‘Swiss Way’, which means that the bank makes all the decisions themselves.

A private bank is typically perceived to be for expats only. However, ABN AMRO Private Banking is experiencing demand for their Executive Package, offering the full Private Banking service from a minimum investment of only £150,000. Available exclusively within Gibraltar, Claus is finding that it is ideal for finance centre professionals as well as for doctors, lawyers, and executives from gaming and insurance companies, amongst others.

They are pleased with the service they get from having a local team of experts to invest for them, often making a lot of money from commodity trading in such items as rubber, oil, wheat, rice and all types of metals, with China’s massive consumption helping fuel the value of commodities held by investors. ‘There is no need for them to go to Switzerland or London to get the best fund management,’ Claus emphasised. ‘It’s all here in Gibraltar, and the customer can just call us up and pop in for a cup of coffee while we discuss his account.’

Finally, I learnt that ABN AMRO is about to disappear - but in name only. It has been taken over by Fortis Bank, but otherwise it’s business as usual for Claus, his colleagues, and their clients.

With the merger due to be finalised by October, we hope to bring you an interview next month with ABN AMRO Private Banking’s managing director, Giles Clarke, who will be able to give the full story of Fortis in Gibraltar.

© 2008 Insight Publications LTD