Former ABN bankers start asset management firm

AMSTERDAM, July 3 (Reuters) - Former employees of Dutch bank ABN AMRO have set up their own asset management firm in the Netherlands and Britain, the new company said on Friday. The firm, called Aethra Asset Management, will initially service institutional clients, and once required permits have been obtained also cater to retail investors, Aethra said in a statement.

Teams that focus on tactical asset allocation and European growth stocks will launch Aethra's first products, it said.

Daan Potjer, formerly head of tactical asset allocation portfolio management at ABN, and Marc Vernooij, former head of euro fixed income at ABN, are the founders and managing partners of Aethra.

Former ABN AMRO Asset Management CEO Tom Cross Brown and Paul Hendriks, currently working at Dutch Rabobank [RABN.UL] [RABO.UL], make up Aethra's advisory board.

The other employees are Ilja de Vlaam, who is also a managing partner, Chris Gould, Arjan Palthe, Khing-An Liem, and Bas Verlaat. They have all worked at ABN AMRO Asset Management previously, Aethra said.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research), Spain's Santander (SAN.MC: Quote, Profile, Research) and Belgian-Dutch Fortis (FOR.BR: Quote, Profile, Research) bought ABN for 70 billion euros in 2007, and ABN's asset management was merged with Fortis operations.

The Dutch state later nationalized Fortis's local operations, including ABN AMRO, amid a crisis of confidence. (Reporting by Gilbert Kreijger; Editing by Hans Peters)