The fund company Deka wants to vote for the designated head of the supervisory board of Deutsche Bank – unlike the fund company Union Investment.
Frankfurt The fund company Deka expresses its confidence in Alexander Wynaendts, the designated successor to Paul Achleitner, Chairman of the Supervisory Board: “A new era is beginning for Deutsche Bank with Mr. Wynaendts. We think he’s the right man to head the supervisory board,” portfolio manager Andreas Thomae said in a statement. The former Aegon CEO has “the potential to help drive the new strategy.”
Wynaendts is to be elected to the Supervisory Board in place of Achleitner at the Annual General Meeting on May 19 and will then also take over the chairmanship of the body. The Union Investment fund company, on the other hand, does not want to choose Wynaendts, as fund manager Alexandra Annecke recently told the Handelsblatt.
The outgoing incumbent Paul Achleitner is no longer standing after ten years at the head of the supervisory body. Both Deka and Union Investment are among the 20 largest shareholders in Deutsche Bank.
In his farewell speech, which was also distributed in advance, Achleitner was self-critical. “If I had known then the magnitude of the difficulties ahead of us, I would have worded my promise to you more carefully,” he said to shareholders. At the time, it was clear that something had to change. “But we didn’t know that it would end up being a thorough refurbishment and not just an upgrade.”
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He indirectly criticized the board of directors at the time, who from his point of view overestimated their own situation in 2012. “The inflated self-image stood in the way of the change that was so urgently needed.”
Conciliatory conclusion to Achleitner
Thomae drew a conciliatory conclusion to the farewell of the long-standing CEO. Achleitner has “significantly shaped” the bank over the past ten years as chairman of the supervisory board, he said. “It hasn’t been an easy journey, especially in the first half of his tenure, and he’s faced a lot of criticism. Ultimately, however, he succeeded in restructuring the bank with a focus on its strengths.” The right management team is at the helm, and Deutsche Bank is once again well regarded by its customers.
Deka fund manager Thomae sees one of the main tasks for Achleitner’s successor Wynaendts in “pushing the strengthening of the stable business areas of private and corporate customers in order to be able to compensate for cyclical lows in investment banking”. Because the institute’s investment bank has grown much faster than the stable revenue generators private and corporate banks. “Deutsche Bank still has to improve in these two areas,” he added.
Despite these limitations, he confirmed that the bank had made “very good progress” with its transformation over the past three years. Focusing on strengths and reducing costs are bearing fruit.
Gained market share in the bond business
The bank was a reliable partner for its customers last year and gained further market shares in the important bond business. “The management must now manage to permanently consolidate profitability at a high level,” he formulated the claim for the future.
He also praised the sustainability efforts of Deutsche Bank. The institute had “made great strides in sustainable financing and investments”. The target of more than 500 billion euros by 2025 seems ambitious but achievable. He also positively emphasized that sustainability goals are now anchored in the bonuses.
More: Union Investment does not want to elect the new designated Deutsche Bank chief supervisor