Association for Project Management: MAPM
APM is the chartered membership body for the project profession. Full Member (MAPM) since 2008. APMP (now APM PMQ), 2008, awarded as IPMA Level D.
apm.org.ukAbout
Transformation leader. I start from the people side of change, then use technology to make it stick, and I judge the work by what gets delivered, not by how it looks in a steering committee.
The work
I am the founder of Aquvalue Limited, a consultancy delivering change and transformation, programme management and interim management to insurers and financial services firms across the insurance value chain. The model is deliberately small, with a network of independent associates who join when an engagement needs more people or other skills. You get senior people who have delivered together before, not a pyramid of juniors. Most work comes through people who already know what I deliver, but I'm open to new introductions and new kinds of work.
The career
I started in 1992 as a business account manager at ABN AMRO, first in the Netherlands, then three years in Berlin, before a five-year global rollout of transactional banking systems and processes. I joined the @accelerator, ABN AMRO's incubator for harmonising its online presence worldwide. Consultancy and core-platform work at a regional Dutch bank followed, and in 2002 Fortis, where I set up three business units in Singapore: Prime Fund Solutions, Clearing and Global Custody.
In 2005 I moved to Hong Kong for the last leg of a global operations alignment at Fortis Prime Fund Solutions, and stayed on as Regional COO for Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan. In 2007 I moved into insurance at AIA: I built its first Group PMO, separated its IT from AIG through the 2008 crisis ahead of the 2010 listing, and later ran its infrastructure, consolidating 14 data centres into four. Two independent years followed, training project managers for APM qualifications in Hong Kong and leading Sun Life's carve-out of Aviva Malaysia in Singapore.
A former boss brought me to Aviva in London as Group PMO Director to run transformation governance and later Aviva's global cloud programme. After leaving Aviva, I followed another former boss to QBE as Group Transformation Director and Chief Data Officer.
I founded Aquvalue in 2019. Since then: delivery contracts at HCL, Direct Line Group and CFC, and a number of advisory engagements.
Full Member of the Association for Project Management (MAPM) and a Camelot Expert. Dutch and British national, based in London since 2013, working across the UK, Europe and Asia.
What I believe
- Own your problems. You can outsource the work, not the accountability. The connection between root cause and solution gets lost the moment ownership is split and nobody has skin in the game.
- Root cause before solution. Understand the problem properly before reaching for an answer.
- Build for handover, not dependency. Consultants fill a skill gap — so upskilling and handover belong in every statement of work.
- Delivery is what counts. Not decks, not frameworks, not steering committee theatre.
Memberships & associations
Professional memberships
The Camelot Network: Camelot Expert
The Camelot Network is a curated network of independent insurance experts, many of them former senior and C-suite leaders, who work with insurers and brokers on strategy, transformation and product. Camelot Expert since 2024.
camelotmarketplace.comWhat you get
Three non-negotiables in everything I deliver: it's actionable (you can do something with it), transferable (you can own it after I leave), and honest (it tells you the truth, even when that's uncomfortable).
Recruiting for an interim role? Terms, availability and how to send a role are on the page for recruiters.