The role: investor services strategy for asset managers and financial institutions, across Europe and Asia
The background: custody, depositary, fund administration and AIFM, across UCITS, hedge funds, private equity, real estate, venture, infrastructure and debt
Two regions, five functions, one plan
Ninety days to an approved strategy, named KPIs and a first differentiated feature greenlit
Where I have done this before, in which regions, and with what reporting to me.
Asia
Hong Kong management company acquisition
HKSI certified 2007, Papers 1 and 2
GTM strategy for CACEIS
LPEA roadshows in Japan on Luxembourg retail alternatives
Europe and the United States
CACEIS international entities: USA, Canada, HK, IRL, NL, BE
Hedge fund leader: USA, IRL, LUX
USA to Europe go-to-market strategy
3 AIFM and 1 depositary license applications
CACEIS Private Capital
Pre-sale, sale, relationship management and strategy
Delivery:
FA and IS
Custody, depositary and equity bridge financing
Standish Management Luxembourg
MD and board member
Regional Director Europe
Key clients RM
HR, finance, Ops, IT, sales and BD
In short
Three regions covered. Four business lines run.
PASCAL HERNALSTEENINVESTOR SERVICES STRATEGY · TRACK RECORD
Phase 01
30
DAYS
Diagnose.
I don’t walk in with the deck already written. The first month is for listening, in an industry I have worked from the inside for three decades.
Teams
Meet Sales, Relationship Management, the FI team, Marketing and Finance across Europe and Asia
Review the growth thesis across asset servicing, technology and operating-model solutions
Check it against what those teams see day to day
Market
Map the competitive field market by market: who wins mandates against us, and on what
Bring my own market intelligence: interviews with 15 global asset servicing players run in 2025, plus client Key Purchasing Criteria surveys
Build the regulatory map across Asia, starting from Hong Kong and Japan
Product
Review the product roadmap and the critical capabilities behind the transformation vision
Baseline the middle office offering: what we sell today, what asset managers actually ask for, where the gap sits
Operations
Review middle-office and technology delivery by market
Baseline governance and risk touchpoints across every region in scope, with the regulatory bar set where the regulator sets it
Deliverable
One-page diagnostic: where the strategy has real momentum, where it has gaps, checked against the people doing the work. Plus one commercial opportunity identified that can close inside the ninety days.
PASCAL HERNALSTEENINVESTOR SERVICES STRATEGY · DAY 1–30
Phase 02
60
DAYS
Align.
A diagnostic is worth nothing until two regions and five functions can commit to the same plan.
Strategy
Draft the integrated Europe and Asia strategy, anchored in the global Investor Services vision
Sequence it by how ready each market actually is
Build the plan by collective debate. The strategy that survives is the one five functions helped write, not the one I wrote alone
Commercial case
Build it with Finance: pricing, profitability targets
The numbers that make it real
Technology and data
Decide where the firm plays in the front to back race: which client segments buy an integrated operating model first, and in which markets
Test where open architecture wins against the closed front to back offers, and where it does not
Growth theme
Test the retail alternatives and evergreen wave across both regions: European semi-liquid structures, Asian distribution appetite, and what asset servicing has to build underneath them
External
Start opening doors early
Map the relationships that drive mandates: asset managers, financial institutions, investment consultants and industry partners
Product
Shortlist the solutions worth building, ranked by client demand
Work the technology model through with the teams who own the roadmap
Shape the governance framework with risk early, so it sits inside the plan, not on top of it
Deliverable
Socialized strategy draft: named sponsors across the five functions, plus Product and Technology, and a ranked shortlist of solutions.
PASCAL HERNALSTEENINVESTOR SERVICES STRATEGY · DAY 31–60
Phase 03
90
DAYS
Deliver.
By day 90, the plan stops being a plan. Strategy approved, KPIs named, first feature greenlit and in build.
Leadership
Present the finalized strategy to leadership, with KPIs attached and owned
Four numbers, agreed with Finance: net new revenue by region, win rate on competitive mandates, revenue per client relationship, and gross margin by service line
Confirm pricing and profitability targets, numbers locked
Market
Represent the firm externally under the new positioning
Product
Greenlight the first differentiated feature: scalable, efficient, built around the client experience
Governance and regulatory discipline already built in, nothing to retrofit
Operating rhythm
Own the 6 to 12 month roadmap with Product and Technology, named owners and dated milestones
Put the quarterly strategy review in place, the one that keeps the roadmap honest after day ninety
Set the cadence with the Strategic Planning Group so the plan keeps moving as markets move
Deliverable
An approved strategy, KPIs with names attached, one feature greenlit and in build, the commercial opportunity from month one closed or in final stage, and a quarterly rhythm that carries the plan into year one.
PASCAL HERNALSTEENINVESTOR SERVICES STRATEGY · DAY 61–90
This plan was written from the outside, on public information. I would rather build the next version from the inside, with the Strategic Planning Group.