Don Herrema rides again

As CEO of Bessemer Trust, Don Herrema helped light a fire under the sleepy, 94-year-old Phipps family office, turning it into one of the country’s most successful high-net-worth managers.

As CEO of Bessemer Trust, Don Herrema helped light a fire under the sleepy, 94-year-old Phipps family office, turning it into one of the country’s most successful high-net-worth managers. Now Herrema, who left Bessemer abruptly in October, will have a chance to build a private banking franchise from the ground up. Asset management firm Amvescap last month named Herrema chairman and CEO of its new private wealth management division. Bessemer’s assets quadrupled to $40 billion on Herrema’s watch, but his hard-nosed leadership style was said to have ruffled feathers at the firm and led to his unexplained departure. Internal politics should not be an immediate problem at Herrema’s new job. Says an Amvescap official, “The high-net-worth group is just Don at the moment.” Herrema did not return calls.

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