Rob Defares
Rob Defares and Wiet Pot, both at the helm of IMC Financial Markets, will make a great jump on the list of richest men in the country.
Forget the traders with a few million, Defares and Pot are in another league. On the annual Quote 500 rich list of Dutch citizens, Defares used to be estimated at a net worth of €490 million (2014). Last year he ranked number 27.
Modest valuation
Ten spots below Defares we used to find Wiet Pot with €410 million. Both estimates are very modest, as recently both men could divide €312 million on dividend from IMC – in just two years (€160m over 2013, €152m over 2014).
In his own holding company Defares himself is also pretty modest about his possessions. His 62.35% stake in IMC is valued at 275 million according to the last publicly known information. Trying to look as poor as possible when it comes to paying taxes.
However, something has changed recently. Flow Traders and Virtu have gone public, and their valuation gives a good indication of the value of IMC.
IMC Compared with Virtu
As you can see here in the graph, the profits of IMC are more or less similar to Virtu Financial. Virtu is currently valued at $3 billion. Would suggest IMC to be worth around €2,7 billion. Lot of differences between the firms, but for a quick and dirty comparison it’s fine.
IMC compared with Flow Traders
Flow Traders has got an even bigger multiple than Virtu. Currently valued at € 1.7 billion – while IMC booked more profits last year (€165m vs €68m). That would suggest a valuation of over €4 billion for IMC.
Defares’ stake in IMC worth € 1.85 billion
Let’s say the firm is worth € 3 billion for the sake of easy calculation. Defares has a stake of 62,348% in IMC. His stake would be worth some € 1.85 billion. Add the millions he earned by the annual dividends in the last 20 years, and the net worth is approaching €2 billion.
Billionaire Rob Defares should jump to the fourth spot in the rich list. Behind John de Mol, Dik Wessels and Frits Goldschmeding.
Wiet Pot about to enter top 10
Wiet Pot
The number 10 at the Dutch rich list last year was Lesley Bamberger (real estate) with an estimated net worth of €1,2 billion. Pot has got a stake of a bit more than 36% in IMC – suggesting a value of €1 billion. Take into account all dividends received since 2008, and he may just overtake Bamberger in the top 10 list.
Estimates
Journalists at Quote magazine will do their own homework, and probably use a big discount for a non-listed company like IMC Financial Markets. The firm IMC doesn’t issue quarterly reports (duh), but everyone in the business knows they are having a great year. Either way, Defares and Pot have a lot of assets to manage.
Oyens & van Eeghen
Maybe they have private bank Oyens & van Eeghen handle their fortune. This bank used to be owned by IMC, and was sold last month to Delen Private Bank. Without mentioning IMC once in the (Dutch) press release. Suppose private banking and HFT aren’t a match made in heaven, when it comes to public relations. And guess who’s CFO of Oyens & van Eeghen? Linda Moos, former CFO of Van der Moolen.
How about Optiver?
With Flow Traders and Virtu raising the valuation for trading firms, there’s of course a bigger fish in the market. Optiver is beating the rest of the pack every year. Maybe this is because the ownership isn’t concentrated at just two people at the top.
Hence I don’t expect any billionaires from Optiver, although some people may see themselves getting included in the Quote 500 list for the first time. Joop vd Kruk, Jelle Elzinga and Hans Pieterse have been around since the beginning and will all own a a few percent of the firm. One percent of Optiver will be worth some €40 to €50 million. New entrants in the rich list from Optiver may be very likely.