Our history dates back to 1737. Read more about our development over the centuries, from trading house to wealth manager, below.
On 22 July 1737 Cornelis van Lanschot entered his first purchases in his ‘Ontfangboek' (order book). This marked the start of Van Lanschot's history as a trading company. Cornelis van Lanschot (1711- 1789) specialised mainly in trading in colonial goods, which he bought at auctions and through trading contacts in the province of Holland and Zeeland. He subsequently sold these goods in 's Hertogenbosch and the surrounding area.
The Van Lanschot trading company was active in buying and selling colonial goods, which were partly produced using slave labour. In an independent academic study carried out in 2022 experts at the University of Leiden established these goods were partially produced using slave labour. They describe the involvement in slavery as indirect: the products were bought at auctions in the province of Holland and Zeeland, and through business contacts, and were subsequently sold in 's Hertogenbosch and the surrounding area. The company itself did not own plantations and was not otherwise directly involved in slavery. The research found no evidence that gave an indication of the views of the partners in Van Lanschot on slavery. Its seems virtually impossible that they were not aware of the fact that part of the goods that they traded in were produced using slave labour or other forms of colonial suppression.
Click here to read the full study and the reaction of Van Lanschot Kempen.
In 1767 Cornelis passed the business onto his son Godefridus van Lanschot, who carried on its activities. Following his death in 1799, Godefridus’ son Franciscus van Lanschot took over and renamed the company Firma F. van Lanschot. During the nineteenth century, under the leadership of Franciscus, the deposit taking and banking activities grew in significance as compared to the trading activities.
In 1851 August van Lanschot and his brother took over the reins from their father and continued this line of expansion.
In 1744 Cornelis moved into the building called ’De Gulden Ketel’ (the golden kettle) at the market square in ‘s Hertogenbosch. At a later date, the adjoining buildings ‘De Hemel’ (heaven) and ‘Het Lam’ (the lamb) were added. From this location, the F. van Lanschot firm operated until around 1880, when the F. van Lanschot firm moved to the current premises at Hooge Steenweg.
The coat of arms that the Van Lanschot used as early as in the 17th century shows three green trees and a red citadel. This is the origin of the tree that still features in the Van Lanschot Kempen logo. The name of Van Lanschot comes from the Dutch word for a long and narrow piece of land - a ‘lang schot’- near the village of Achtmaal, just south of the town of Zundert in the Dutch province of Brabant.
Following the unification of the Netherlands with Belgium and the proclamation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, the monetary system had to be reformed. As there was a shortage of small change coins from 1816 onwards, private individuals and businesses sought a temporary solution by bringing small change coins into circulation themselves, outside the government. A grocer in the town of Utrecht, Bleijenstein, was the first to introduce these coins in the Netherlands. Franciscus van Lanschot it is also thought to have brought these coins into circulation. For generations, these coins were popularly referred to as Lanschotjes (little Lanschots), although no information to substantiate this has been found in the company archives.
Godefridus van Lanschot (1835 – 1907), who was referred to as Fried senior, ended the trading activities around 1881. From that point onwards Van Lanschot focused exclusively on deposit taking and banking, as well as on securities trading.
Deposit taking and securities trading were the backbone of the company. In addition, the company engaged in small-scale lending to local traders and industry, while Fried senior also provided mortgages and issued mortgage bonds. As a supervisory director of a local construction company, the Bossche Bouw Maatschappij, he promoted housing construction and the demolition of slums. He was also served as a member of the board of the Chamber of Commerce in 's-Hertogenbosch.
On 1 January 1901, Fried van Lanschot Jr (1868-1935) and his brother Karel van Lanschot (1869-1945) stepped up to the plate at Van Lanschot, together steering the firm through the 1907 stock market crash. Things got a little better from 1909 but in 1913 the economy slid into a shallow recession. During the First World War, Van Lanschot opened branches in Amersfoort, Driebergen, Zeist, Tegelen, Venlo, Oosterhout and Valkenswaard, a strategy the partners would turn their backs on in the 1920s.
Karel van Lanschot was mainly in charge of debt collection and management of the currency portfolio. A conscientious man and a stickler for detail, he was the right person to run a tight ship in the office, while his more outgoing brother Fried Jr was the smooth operator, acting as the financier in charge of lending. Fried Jr was good at winning the trust of business clients and prospects, and at putting trust in them.
On 1 January1928, ‘Mijnheer Jan’, as the Van Lanschot workforce would come to call Jan van Lanschot (1900-1983), joined F. van Lanschot Bankiers as a partner alongside his father and uncle Karel. No sooner had he come through his own induction than the young partner was faced with the stock market crash of October 1929. Unlike other sectors of industry, Dutch banks survived the 1930s crisis relatively unscathed, and liquidity proved not to be a problem when F. van Lanschot’s assets were valued at five million guilders in 1932. In fact, one of Jan van Lanschot’s most notable innovations during the Great Depression was the launch of an advertising campaign.
In his four decades at Van Lanschot, Jan van Lanschot saw the bank transform from a local and regional family business into a medium-sized bank, expanding first within and then beyond national borders. Displaying a strong ethical and philosophical streak, Jan van Lanschot was inspired by Eastern thought and anthroposophy and had a keen interest in history: that of his hometown and native region, as well as of his own family and the bank. Van Lanschot has him to thank for its well-kept archives and the start of a series of publications about the firm. Jan stepped down in 1969 in favour of his son, Jan Cees van Lanschot.
In 1937, Jan van Lanschot launched Van Lanschot’s first full-fledged advertising campaign.
His father Fried was dead-set against ad campaigns of any kind, arguing that “Doctors don’t advertise their services either, do they?” However, his son was looking to build greater brand awareness: “People shouldn’t come to the bank; the bank needs to come to the people.”
During the war, Jan van Lanschot commissioned a psychological study from the lab of eminent applied psychology professor Theo Rutten.
In 1943, the lab published its 'psycho-technical report on the private bank’, which devoted a great many pages to how Van Lanschot should handle advertising. The bank launched its first advertising campaign as soon as the southern part of the Netherlands had been liberated.
In July 1945, Karel van Lanschot left the company. He was succeeded on 1 February 1946 by Henri van Lanschot (1904-1978), who, much like his predecessor, was put in charge of day-to-day operations at the head office in ’s-Hertogenbosch.
Jan Cees van Lanschot (1929-1991) joined the family business and was appointed head of the Eindhoven office opened on 2 August 1954. Tilburg followed in 1959. Van Lanschot reverted to its early 1920s policy of opening up branches and a network of offices soon emerged. By the 1960s, Jan Cees was in charge of money market-related business, foreign relations, and affiliated banks Staal & Co., Vermeer and Co. and World Banking Corporation Ltd. When Jan van Lanschot stepped down in 1969, his son Jan Cees took over the reins.
When Willem van Lanschot (1914-2001) joined Van Lanschot, all three branches of the ’s-Hertogenbosch Van Lanschot family were represented.
Together with his partners at Van Lanschot, Willem launched a new financial structure of international shareholders in the period up to 1978, and served as Chairman from 1978 to 1984. For more information about Willem van Lanschot, see the Wikipedia entry (in Dutch).
In the 1960s and 1970s, Van Lanschot launched a series of TV ads, created by Toonder Studios – now available on our YouTube channel. Animation and the second ad’s format were done by animator Börge Ring, with the third video probably a product of Börge Ring or his colleague Bjørn Frank Jensen. Harrie Geelen may conceivably have written the live action spots.
For more information about Toonder Studios, read 'De Toonder Animatiefilms' by Jan-Willem de Vries, at www.toondercompagnie.nl.
A Board of Managing Directors was instated after Van Lanschot changed over to being a public limited company (NV) in 1978, with Jan Cees van Lanschot appointed as its first Chairman. Other members included Cas de Quay, Bart Le Blanc, Albert Klinkenbergh, Maarten van Lanschot, A.C. van Herpen and Harry Baeten.
On 1 July 1991, Van Lanschot opened its first office on Belgian soil, at Jan van Rijswijcklaan 4 in Antwerp. In 1995 another Belgian office became operational in Turnhout, followed by one in Lanaken in 1996 and another in Gent in 1997. To find out more about Van Lanschot in Belgium, go to www.vanlanschot.be
In 1995, Van Lanschot opened an office in Zurich, Switzerland (photo). An office in Geneva followed in 1996. To find out more about Van Lanschot in Switzerland, go to www.vanlanschot.ch.
On 11 June 1999, Van Lanschot announced it would seek a listing on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange in order to improve its access to the capital markets and boost brand awareness. By increasing shareholder numbers, Van Lanschot also wanted to emphasise its independence and the IPO put the final touches on the changes that had been made to the shareholder structure in 1994.
In 2004, ING Group NV and Van Lanschot agreed on the purchase by Van Lanschot of CenE Bankiers. The acquisition helped Van Lanschot to strengthen its position as the prime Dutch bank for high net worth individuals and their businesses, family-owned or otherwise.
Godfried van Lanschot (1964) was appointed a member of Van Lanschot’s Supervisory Board on 10 May 2006. A son of Jan Cees van Lanschot, who headed up the bank for many years and who died in 1991, Godfried van Lanschot had long worked in banking and been active as a private investor. His appointment brought on board the ninth generation of Van Lanschots at Van Lanschot Bankiers.
Van Lanschot acquired Kempen & Co (2 January 2007) to bolster its position among target clients: high net worth individuals, institutional investors, businesses and entrepreneurs.
At the end of 2013 Van Lanschot launched its online savings and investment solution Evi van Lanschot. Preserving and creating wealth is important not only to high net-worth individuals, but also to those starting out on the wealth management market. It was for this latter group that we launched Evi van Lanschot. www.evivanlanschot.nl
In 2016 Van Lanschot acquired Staalbankiers’ private banking activities. This acquisition enables us to expand our assets under management and serve even more clients. Staalbankiers enjoys strong positions in its market segments. Its specialists support wealthy private individuals, entrepreneurs, professionals and institutions such as charitable organisations, which are a close fit with Van Lanschot’s client groups.
On 18 May 2017 shareholders approved the name change of Van Lanschot NV in Van Lanschot Kempen NV. The articles of association are amended. On 30 June 2017 Chairman Karl Guha opened the stock market on the occasion of the introduction of the new name, new brand and the new ticker symbol VLK.
In 2017 Van Lanschot Kempen acquired UBS’s domestic wealth management activities in the Netherlands. This acquisition represents a step-change in our positioning in the top-end of the wealth management market. The combination of the domestic wealth management activities of UBS with Van Lanschot Kempen’s offering results in a strong and differentiated proposition for family offices, foundations and charities and ultra-high net worth private individuals.
In January 2021 Van Lanschot Kempen completed the acquisition of Hof Hoorneman Bankiers, the next step in the implementation of Van Lanschot Kempen’s growth strategy. Hof Hoorneman Bankiers is a Dutch wealth manager with around €2,0 billion in client assets. The company provides private banking, online wealth management and settlement only services.
In 2021 Van Lanschot Kempen and the leading independent wealth manager Mercier Vanderlinden joined forces in the Belgian wealth management market. The new partners are a good fit in terms of client portfolios and networks, product offering and geographical distribution.