Camille Van Vyve
13 Feb 2025
Meet Yvan, our new Wealth Manager
Yvan Bienfait, 31 years old. Home: Brussels. Job title: Wealth Manager.
You have quite a diverse background...Tell us a bit about your experiences.
First, I’ve always spoken French at home but studied in Dutch. At Easyvest, I’ll primarily handle French-speaking clients, but I can also support the Dutch-speaking team when needed. I studied International Business Management at UCLL, which took me through Denmark, Leuven, and the UK—three very different approaches to education! Then, I did a master’s at ICHEC, worked for over a year in an American company in London, and later completed a postgraduate degree in sports management at VUB.
Sports management?
Yes, I’ve always loved sports, especially ball sports. I used to play tennis for my university in England and I try to keep myself at a good level, but I also play padel, hockey, and recently, a lot of golf. For several years, I coached young tennis players who wanted to compete… most of them are better than me today, and some are in Belgium’s top 100.
But in the end, you moved into finance.
Finance has always been a topic in my family, as my father ran a family office and taught me the basics early on. It has always interested me, and I started exploring the stock markets at a young age. At some point, I had to choose between sports and finance, and I decided to join KBC as an investment expert.
No more coaching?
I continued doing both for a few months, but it was too demanding. In the end, I only kept a few students, just to stay connected to it.
From KBC to Easyvest—how did that happen?
I was honestly very happy at KBC, in my comfort zone. But I had heard about Easyvest as early as 2018 and had been following them from a distance. Then, I learned that one of my colleagues at the bank, Michel, who had the same role as me at another branch, had decided to join Easyvest. That got me thinking, so I reached out to Corentin to chat.
What convinced you?
I believe index investing is objectively the best approach for the vast majority of investment clients. The cost-performance-transparency balance is optimal. And as a wealth manager, you’re always better at offering a solution you truly believe in.
One tricky question to wrap up—any regrets so far?
Probably believing those who told me, in 2019 just before COVID, that padel had no future in Belgium. That was actually the topic of my thesis at VUB—I wanted to develop the sport here. I didn’t pursue it, but maybe I should have...!