Andries Pels

Andries Pels was a rich Dutch banker and insurer from Amsterdam. He started his career as a merchant but later has become more interested in finances. At the time of the War of Spanish Succession (1701–1714), he was responsible for the transfer of money for the maintenance of the English troops. In 1707 he founded the company Andries Pels & Sons dealing in luxury goods, insurance, and currency. In 1709 he also had six warehouses in present Entrepotdok. Around 1750 the company Andries Pels & Sons was one of the main banking houses in Europe.

He was nephew of his namesake, poet Andries Pels, and was uncle to the colonial governor Paulus van der Veen. In 1742 his widow, Angenita Pels-Bouwens (1660–1749), was the richest woman in Amsterdam.