As six new Partners join KPMG Luxembourg, the firm today announced the launch of its new #justKPMG campaign to show the faces behind the suits.

The nominations and promotions, which saw Lutfije Aktan, Giuliano Bidoli, Julien Bieber, Michael Eichmuller de Souza, Stephanie Smets and Konstanze Ziegler assume their new roles on 1 October 2015, forms part of the company's driver to recruit and retain top talent.

"In English they call us 'bean-counters', in German it's 'pea-counters': whichever way you look at it, accountants have a dry reputation," explained Georges Bock, Managing Partner at KPMG Luxembourg. "But we know that our partners are passionate people, and we wanted to give a flavour of what you can expect if you choose KPMG. The new campaign shows our new partners for example Audit Partner, Lutfije Aktan, showing what she does when she's 'just Lutfije'. You get a glimpse behind the scenes at what we feel is an important part of our company culture: passion".

As September and October 2015 saw KPMG Luxembourg received over 160 new recruits, with more expected for the coming months, the firm has seen it fit to shake off the dusty image of accounting through a modern campaign, to show the character behind the calculations.

"All these talents are an integral part of our ongoing investments in helping our people grow and finding the right people to accompany us in the future," said Head of People, Thomas Feld, on how the face of the firm was changing. "The make-up of our company is gradually changing, as we see more profiles with specific technical backgrounds and skills that you might expect to find in places like small start-ups and incubators, rather than in banks. It's great to have such a wide mix of talent and see the entire firm moving in the right direction!"

The new Partners are as follows:

LUTFIJE AKTAN – French, 39

LUTFIJE AKTAN has been promoted to Audit Partner in the Investment Management practice of KPMG Luxembourg. She has 17 years of experience in the Luxembourg funds industry and acts as a Réviseur d’Entreprises agréé on audit mandates for management companies and UCITS with international distribution, as well as for regulated and non-regulated Alternative Investment vehicles. Lutfije is also an active member in various ALFI working groups and leads KPMG Luxembourg’s MENA Desk.

STEPHANIE SMETS – Belgian, 39
STEPHANIE SMETS, aged 39, has been promoted to Audit Partner in the Investment Management department of KPMG Luxembourg. Stéphanie has gained extensive experience on the audit of major financial institutions with a focus on investment funds (UCITS and Alternative Funds). She is also specialised in the audit of insurance and reinsurance companies.

GIULIANO BIDOLI – Italian / Luxemburgish, 40
GIULIANO BIDOLI has been promoted to Tax Partner in the Alternative Investments – Private Equity department of KPMG Luxembourg. He is 40 years old and has extensive experience in International Corporate Tax within the Alternative Investment industry. He has been heavily involved in the development and implementation of various tax solutions for investments done by Private Equity funds. He is an active member of the tax committee of the Luxembourg Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (LPEA).

JULIEN BIEBER – French, 38
JULIEN BIEBER has been promoted to Partner in KPMG Luxembourg’s International Tax team focusing on Alternative Investments. He is 38 years old and has extensive experience in Private Equity funds and investment structures. In 2007 he was seconded to the Private Equity tax deal team of KPMG London, and currently he is an active member of the tax committees of the Luxembourg Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (LPEA) and of the British Chamber of Commerce for Luxembourg (BCC).

MICHAEL EICHMÜLLER DE SOUZA – British/German, 39
MICHAEL EICHMÜLLER DE SOUZA, aged 39, has been promoted to Audit Partner in the Banking practice of KPMG Luxembourg. A qualified chartered accountant in Luxembourg (IRE) and the UK (ICAEW), he leads audit and assurance engagements of Banking, Securitisation and Real Estate sector clients, including the issuance of ISAE 3402 control reports.
Michael started his career in London at PwC in 1998 and worked at WestLB before joining KPMG Luxembourg in 2004.

KONSTANZE ZIEGLER – German, 42
KONSTANZE ZIEGLER has been promoted to Tax Partner in the Indirect Tax department of KPMG Luxembourg. She is 42 years old and has detailed experience with VAT matters of multinational companies in the banking, financial and real estate sectors. In particular, she provides VAT advice to investment companies from various sectors.

In addition to the six new partners, one individual was nominated to Director, with a further 29 appointed to Associate Partner.

 

Photo by KPMG Luxembourg