Epicurean and passionate about painting, Frédéric Rollin reveals himself in this exclusive interview.

In this new series of interviews, we are talking to experts known to most financial market specialists, but without focusing on their role and financial expertise. The first to open this series is Frédéric Rollin, who works at Pictet Asset Management as an investment strategy advisor. Since the beginning of the pandemic, he has also been hosting a monthly webinar that is well known to Belgian investors.

Hello Frédéric. What are your greatest passions outside the financial world?

Frédéric Rollin: "I have a passion for drawing and painting, which I have been practising extremely regularly since 2006. It is a form of artistic expression that has always attracted me since I was very young. In the evenings and during weekends, I often isolate myself in the studio that I have set up in my garden to paint in oils. My colleagues also know me for the humorous drawings I do during work meetings, but I don't let that stop me from following what's going on. I have been scribbling on a sheet of paper since the beginning of this interview.”

Which painters have influenced you?

F.R.: "Since I started painting seriously, just before I turned forty, I have been particularly influenced by a painter called Lucian Freud, a British painter who makes very expressive portraits with very marked faces. I also like the very obsessive side of an artist like Peter Doig, who makes very colourful paintings of a man in a canoe on a lake. Marlène Dumas is also an artist I like, for the expressionist side of the faces she paints. Finally, I am also a fan of comics, so I will also mention Joann Sfar and the whole movement around the publishing house L'Association, with authors like Blutch or Nicolas de Crécy.”

Do you exhibit your work?

F.R.: "I have exhibited in the town where I live, on the occasion of artists' days that are regularly organised. I have sold some paintings, at prices that are very modest compared to the heights reached in contemporary art. One of my paintings is also on display at my hairdresser's, and I also give some to my friends who like what I do. It is probably something I will do even more intensively once I retire.”

What about music?

F.R.: "That is less central for me. I had to realise that I had little aptitude for music after trying to play the drums for a few years. When I do listen to music, it is usually artists who were successful a few years ago, like the Sparks, Bob Dylan, Nina Simone or Janis Joplin. But sometimes it is more modern stuff, when I listen to the family playlist that my 20-year-old daughter puts together."

Which foreign city do you enjoy the most?

F.R.: "The country I have travelled to the most in my life is clearly Italy, and Rome has always made an incredible impression on me the three or four times I have had the opportunity to go there. It's one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and you can visit some amazing museums, or stumble across an incredible monument on every street corner. It also has the charm of a city that has not been totally modernised. As an epicurean, it is also easy to find a nice restaurant with excellent food and fresh products."

So you are an epicurean by nature?

F.R.: "If you could see my figure, you wouldn't ask that question. Without any valid argument and in a very chauvinistic way, I remain convinced that French cuisine is still the best in the world. Outside of France, I was blown away by Japanese cuisine during a trip to Japan, by its sophistication far from our culinary habits. As with French or Italian cuisine, there is a long gastronomic tradition in this country, which is not just about sushi and ramen bowls."

Do you prefer wine, beer or water?

F.R.: "Definitely wine, even if I fortunately drink more water than wine. I'm quite eclectic, and I don't mind drinking rich and sun-drenched wines like those from the Bandol appellation. As for the great classics, I have a preference for Burgundy wines, which makes people who swear by Bordeaux wines howl.”

Finally, could you describe Frédéric Rollin's day when he doesn't have to go to work at Pictet Asset Management?

F.R.: "I usually get up quite early so that I can walk a young Border Collie that we adopted a year ago in a park near my town. He's a fairly energetic dog who is unhappy if he doesn't get a chance to be walked. If I don't have to go to work, I like to to the market with my wife, in order to find fresh products to cook. I also play a lot of chess in my spare time on an app, which is a great tool to improve your game. However, chess is still a great exercise in humility against an experienced player."