Hi Edward! Who you are and what you do now?
I'm Edward Schiettecatte and I’m the CEO of TRAINM Clinics, an outpatient neurorehabilitation group specialising in rehabilitation for children and adults suffering from neurological disorders. We use innovative scientifically-proven technologies such as robotics, virtual reality, neurogaming and non-invasive neuromodulation to maximise the functional recoveries of our patients. We opened our first clinic in Antwerp, Belgium in 2017 and now also have clinics in Ghent, Belgium and Amsterdam, Netherlands.
When did you join Rothschild & Co?
I joined the New York office in August 2000 as an analyst and was promoted to associate. I stayed for a little over a year, right when the Internet boom was taking off. I then took an offer to work for a German online investment bank in Paris, leading their operations in France and the Benelux [Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg].
What are your memories of working at Rothschild & Co?
I’m from Belgium and I was one of only a few Europeans in the New York office. It was myself and Irving Bellotti, who’d come from the Milan office, and is now a partner of Rothschild & Co in Italy. I have fond memories of Irving. The interactions in the bullpen with the other analysts and associates were intense and fun at the same time, spending long hours (sometimes all night) working together. I also met the mother of my three children, Nilofar Niazi, at Rothschild & Co. Our son Nataniel suffers from cerebral palsy. That was the reason we decided to do something about his situation, and how TRAINM came all about.
Are you a member of the Rothschild & Co Alumni Network?
Yes. What I like about the alumni programme is that you can see what amazing careers former colleagues have evolved to and it is a great way to keep in touch with Rothschild & Co. Also, the collective expertise and industry insights within an alumni network creates value for its members. The alumni programme reinforces the sense of belonging and community that extends beyond employment.
What are you most proud of your time at Rothschild & Co?
There are a few things that I would like to share. First, one of the memorable M&A deals I executed in 2000 with the London office was the US$485 million acquisition of ABB’s nuclear business by British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL). I was also very much involved in generating new cross-border ideas with the managing directors. I had a big network in the Benelux and was able to secure a meeting with the CEO of UCB, one of the largest biopharmaceutical companies in the world. We got a call from the Paris Rothschild & Co office: “Wow, what's going on in New York? We've been trying to schedule a meeting with UCB already for months!” I also had a few meetings with the vice chairman of Rothschild & Co Yves-Andre Istel in New York who was an influential senior investment banker with a huge track record. We had some very interesting conversations on investment banking. So yes, I have fond memories of my time at Rothschild & Co.
What do you miss most about working at Rothschild & Co?
Probably the teamwork and the intensity, because you are working around the clock on big M&A deals, sometimes with the other Rothschild & Co offices in Paris and London. You spend so many hours with your colleagues, you almost become like family.
How did your time at Rothschild & Co help you get you where you are today?
I'm successful at TRAINM because of the financial discipline and financial engineering we've done to make sure the company is financially sound. A company has to be self-sustaining but it also has to be attractive for outside investors. All the groundwork, analyses and financial models that I did in my time in investment banking have been tremendously helpful in the tools we use up to today. I think I'm quicker than most CFOs in building financial models because of all the tricks that are still in my hands that I picked up at Rothschild & Co.