Does ING, the giant Dutch bancassurance group, need new advisers? Should it give up banking altogether and concentrate solely on insurance where it is a world leader? Should ING call it a day on trying to expand internationally and simply merge with ABN Amro to form a Dutch superbank?

Look at ING's record over the past three years and you might think that the group has been slightly unlucky. My own view is that it has been downright careless. On Wall Street, ING had the small but prestigious firm of Dillon Read in the bag following the acquisition of Barings. However, the Dutch were totally blind-sided by SBC Warburg which struck its own deal with the Dillon Read partners. Instead, ING ended up with Furman Selz. No one on Wall Street would suggest that this was a fair exchange.