 |
Arkadi Kuhlmann |
| Country United States |
| Company ING DIRECT USA |
| Designation Chairman, President and CEO |
Speech Title
Enterprise Execution as a Key to Innovation
Back to Basics
Companies these days have glorious sounding vision and mission statements and everyone sets out to accomplish great things. While very few of these players succeed, most only once in their corporate lifetime, a few exceptions seem to master the challenge of continuous innovation and re-invention. What is the secret formula? The simplicity of the answer is as much a surprise as it is powerful.
Bio
Arkadi Kuhlmann, Chairman, President and CEO, ING DIRECT USA – in seven years, Arkadi Kuhlmann has created the world’s largest internet bank with over 6 million customers and $77 billion in assets. His story is really not just about banking, but rather about the power of disruptive ideas and a new approach to business strategy.
Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, ING DIRECT USA is part of ING Group of the Netherlands, one of the world’s largest financial services institutions, where he serves as a member of the General Management of ING DIRECT NV, a member of ING DIRECT NV Supervisory Board, and a member of the ING Group Leadership Council. He joined ING in June 1996 as President and CEO to start up the ING Direct initiative in Canada.
Following the successful launch of ING Direct in Canada, he embarked upon the launch of ING DIRECT USA in September 2000. In just seven years, ING DIRECT has led more than 6 million customers back to saving with $77 billion in assets and has become the 4th largest thrift in the country.
Prior to ING, Arkadi's experience includes both high-level corporate and academic positions. He served as President of North American Trust, CEO of Deak International Incorporated and held various executive positions at the Royal Bank of Canada. His academic experience includes teaching at the American Graduate School of International Management (“Thunderbird”) in Phoenix, Arizona where he was a professor of International Finance and Investment Banking.
Arkadi received an Honors B.A. in Business Administration along with an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. He serves as Chairman of the Board of ING Bank of Canada, Chairman of the Advisory Board of Richard Ivey School of Business, Chairman of the ING DIRECT Kids Foundation, a non-profit organization he helped to establish to improve the lives of children, with a particular focus on foster children, around the globe. He serves on the ING Americas US Advisory Board. He is also an Honorary Chair for the “More Than Houses Campaign” for Habitat for Humanity, a charter member of the American Savings Education Council, and a member of NACD – National Association of Corporate Directors. Arkadi has not only had a positive influence on the banking industry by breaking the traditional mould to lead Americans back to saving, but he has also had a significant impact on Wilmington, Delaware, the location of ING DIRECT’s U.S. headquarters. By choosing to renovate historic buildings at the Wilmington Riverfront, Arkadi has helped transform the area surrounding the Amtrak train station to create a booming commercial centre that has prompted national companies to relocate there. Under Arkadi’s leadership, ING DIRECT has expanded into four buildings in Wilmington and is one of the state’s leading employers.