Pressroom »»

Minister and mayor opened HFC Plaza

On Monday afternoon 8 March, the minister of Economic Affairs and the mayor of Amsterdam officially opened HFC Plaza, the new centre for start-up businesses which also houses Amsterdam’s two new knowledge centres, the Centre for Climate and Sustainability and the Centre for Retirement Management. These initiatives were launched by Holland Financial Centre and made possible with the financial support of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the city of Amsterdam (via the Peaks in the Delta programme), and the financial industry itself.

HFC Plaza is the world’s only centre dedicated to start-up businesses in the financial industry. Located on the top two floors of the Symphony Tower in Amsterdam’s Zuidas district, HFC Plaza houses various national and international financial service providers. HFC Plaza residents IMQubator, Holland Private Equity, and Roodhals Capitals are proponents of innovative asset management. Inco-Intertrust is a well-established British trust company just entering the Dutch market. The Darwin Platform is a new company that helps beginning asset managers to structure their asset fund, administration, risk management and fund raising. Finalyse is a Belgian financial advisor, also new to the Dutch market. JW Wiertsema, a beginning notary public, and the staff offices of the Holland Financial Centre, the Centre for Climate and Sustainability and the Centre for Retirement Management are also located in HFC Plaza.
HFC Plaza will welcome other fledging financial companies in the near future, and the top two floors of the building are expected to be fully occupied by the third quarter of 2010.
The Centre for Climate and Sustainability, an initiative of the Holland Financial C entre, will focus on the promotion, marketing and financing of sustainable activities such as the following:
  • Sustainable investment
  • The financing of sustainable projects
  • The financing of the transition to sustainable energy, including clean tech solutions
  • Trading and financing carbon rights and alternative sources of energy
The Centre for Retirement Management is a knowledge centre for expertise pertaining to all pension-related aspects of financial services. The focus of its activities will be the international promotion and marketing of the Dutch pension industry, the development of knowledge about the international pension market, and all related activities.
The city of Amsterdam supports this initiative as part of a new programme to raise Amsterdam’s profile as a vibrant financial centre where knowledge, innovation and sustainability play a key role. These initiatives are a major stimulus to the promotion of the city’s financial industry and the development of the Zuidas financial district.