FINANCIAL CENTRE FRANKFURT: dazzling economy, real estate, startups, sustainability & networking (Interview – Ulrich Siebert, author, restaurateur, Frankfurt)

Frankfurt – Technology, Tolerance & Talent. Markus Hill spoke for FINANZPLATZ-FRANKFURT-MAIN.DE with Ulrich Siebert, „Frankfurt lover“, founder and consultant, about topics such as communication, the topics like blender models (Wirecard & Co.), and the multidimensional image of the financial center. Also addressed were location qualities in the areas of startups, investors, infrastructure, and digitization. Remarks on the „creative class thinking“ of Richard Florida and concrete thoughts on the topic of the Frankfurt Zeil and the pleasure of exchanging ideas appear to be additionally interesting.

Hill: Mr. Siebert, you are a Frankfurter with a colorful Frankfurt vita: author of the FAZ book Blenderwirtschaft, co-organizer of the Sound of Frankfurt music festival still present in many people’s minds, communications consultant for almost 20 years, and operator of the Landfest day bar on the Zeil for about two years. How does all that fit together?

Siebert: You’ve still left out a few activities. The variety motivates me. Ultimately, everything revolves around the realization of ideas and entrepreneurial projects. And these are mostly communication topics. I wrote the volume Blenderwirtschaft during the turbulence of the Neuer Markt in 2002.

Hill: That was when you were still a financial journalist covering the stock market and funds. What is a bubble economy for you?

Siebert: I was interested in recurring patterns that incorporate bubbles. The confessions of the notorious Frankfurt construction tycoon Jürgen Schneider had affirmed this. That was in 1995. Schneider wrote a blueprint for Blender models while in prison. In 1999, the FlowTex scandal broke, the biggest financial fraud in the Federal Republic up to that time, with patterns similar to Schneider’s. Then EM.TV, Comroad – and all the other windy stock market debutants. By 2005, the Neuer Markt had been wound up and around 200 billion euros of capital had been lost. A century-old Frankfurt bank name also disappeared with the Neuer Markt: Gontard. Next came the S&K investor scandal, which was unsurpassable in terms of scurrility. Now, in 2020/2021, we have the Wirecard bankruptcy, which has eclipsed all regulations.

Ulrich Siebert - "Frankfurt lover"
Ulrich Siebert – „Frankfurt lover“

Hill: What pattern could you see in the inflated business models of 20 years ago?

Siebert: Every deception and being deceived happens in a continuity, builds up, and has a lot to do with acquired industry practice, with stereotypes, insignia/seals, and the pretense of authenticity. It is precisely when the framework is stable and there is an accumulation of big names that endangerment situations arise. Likewise, I had observed the paradox: The more capital is involved, the more likely it is that dazzle works succeed. I could identify three indicators in particular: 1. cult of personality, 2. exaggerated market promises, 3. cronyism as too close, direct communication between buyer and seller. But I find it particularly regrettable when the Frankfurt skyline is often used as a symbolic image in scandal reports.

Hill: Such impressions do not necessarily help the image of Frankfurt as a financial center.

Siebert: Exactly. The financial center has always been much more. It was able to develop from a diverse, lively civic center. In the meantime, it has become a globally respected emerging start-up region for FinTechs in the activation phase. Frankfurt has an excellent campus, 30 incubators, tens of co-working spaces as talent hotbeds, and direct access to investors, venture capital, and business angels. Expanding this potential cannot be overestimated. The Corona pandemic is driving the digitization of the offline economy all over the world. This opportunity for Frankfurt needs to be spoken about much more clearly, not hidden away in repurposed office towers. Incidentally, this is an interesting prospect for the pandemic-plagued Frankfurt real estate market.

Hill: Compared to the Rhineland, Berlin, or Hamburg, people often complain that Frankfurt is not hip. Does it have to be?

Siebert: A cultural climate, education, and an attractive living environment are certainly essential for prosperous urban development. Richard Florida’s much-discussed theory that prosperity only comes from the settlement of the creative class is still convincing to me. It comes down to the three „T’s“: technology, tolerance, and talent. With cultural diversity and active subcultures, new ideas for networking, technologies and new business models are emerging that can attract talent and move the financial center forward as a start-up region in particular. Now that Frankfurt is hardly a driving force in the music, automotive, and advertising industries – not entirely through no fault of its own – the first Fashionweek from Berlin in Frankfurt could initiate a turnaround. I can well imagine that the mixture of lifestyle, business platform, and sustainable textile technologies will go down very well in Frankfurt. Also as a signal of new beginnings for the textile trade in the city.

Hill: For the last ten years, you had lived and worked on an estate in the Wetterau region. Recently, you moved back to the city center. Why the change, is something changing in the city right now?

Siebert: For centuries, city dwellers have been trying to move to the countryside in a pandemic. My wife and I wanted to do it differently. No, all jokes aside. The reason is simple: I had accompanied the project development for the Zeil 111 commercial building and after completion opened the Landfest day bar with my wife. The property is a mixed concept of residential, medical practices, the Hirsch pharmacy, the flagship store of G-Star, gastronomy, photo studio, and beauty. Our distances are simply much shorter with the move, and we can bring our regional producer contacts or our cooperation with the Prinz von Hessen winery directly into the city. What I find interesting is the aspect that city life only functions through the land, especially through food production but also through fresh air supply and biodiversity. So, strictly speaking, sustainability has to be an urban issue.

Hill: Is Zeil the right location, it is neither a financial district nor does it stand for sustainability?

Siebert: The pace of the Zeil and its pedestrian frequency stand above all for change. A lot will happen here in the next five years. Even if textiles and department stores will no longer characterize the Zeil to the same extent as in past decades, it is undoubtedly the consumer and supply center in Frankfurt. However, many of our Frankfurt guests in the day bar say that they would rather avoid the Zeil and that they are surprised to have found us here. That shows me the deeper desire for smaller-scale, mixed uses whose individuality and spirit complement the online world. This will bring new retail concepts that do not compete with Amazon, but also a lot of structural change to the Zeil. Just as the Karstadt area will no longer exist in 2025.

Hill: Will Frankfurt’s city center be different after Corona?

Siebert: This question is indeed very much on my mind, and not just as a restaurateur. In the short term, I can well imagine that, despite some vacancies, even in prime locations, things will continue as they were before the 1st lockdown, even if many tourists and trade fair visitors will be missing. Luxury labels and discounters are likely to be the most resistant. In the long term, however, the consumption structure will change fundamentally in the direction of supply, service, health, and logistics. Climate change, heating up of city centers, air pollution, and sustainability in supply chains will also drive changes. I can well imagine that Frankfurt will once again have a stronger residential component because many large retail and office spaces will simply no longer be playable and real estate will have to be replanned. This will not only require a lot of creativity, but the change will also release a lot of creativity for prototypes of new business models.


Ulrich Siebert – „Frankfurt lover“, founder as well as a consultant in numerous communication, innovation, and real estate projects. Owner of LANDFEST TAGESBAR: www.landfest.de (Frankfurt Zeil 111) / www.siebert-unternehmesberater.de

Source: LinkedIn

FINANCIAL CENTRE FRANKFURT: Judaism, Culture, and Einstein

“Jewish life in Frankfurt” – This is also the title of the brochure that has just been published by the City of Frankfurt, Department of Finance, Participations and Churches in cooperation with the Jewish Community of Frankfurt and which is about common history, discovering, experiencing and also remembering. The mayor as well as the head of the church, Uwe Becker, and the chairman of the board of the Jewish community have written committed words of greeting.

Jewish life in Frankfurt has a great tradition going back almost 900 years. The historical traces of Jewish life can also be traced in Frankfurt’s wonderfully restored old town. The horrific expulsion and murder of Frankfurt Jews in the Holocaust left terrible scars on our urban society. After 1945, there were only a few Frankfurt Jews who also returned to their destroyed hometown; before 1933, the Jewish community consisted of 30,000 members and embodied the most significant era of Jewish activity up to that time.

Eva-Maria Klatt, Frankfurt am Main
Eva-Maria Klatt, Frankfurt am Main

It was not until 1864 that Jewish Frankfurt residents gained full equality and the community grew; in 1882 the synagogue on Börneplatz (destroyed by the Nazis, who then built a high-rise bunker over it) was consecrated, and in 1910 the Westend Synagogue. Today the Jewish community has about 7,000 members and is the second largest in Germany. In 1986, the Jewish Community Center was opened, which is now called the Ignatz Bubis Center. This center, like other buildings here, makes Jewish life in the city “alive” again. The Jewish kindergarten, the Lichtigfeld School, the Jewish sports club TUS Makkabi in the heart of Frankfurt, and the Jewish Museum, which was reopened in October with its impressive bright new architecture, are also very noticeable and visible.

CORONA, LOCKDOWN, AND MUSEUM

“Closedbutopen” was the motto for the Jewish Museum during the second lockdown until its radical closure. It is the oldest Jewish Museum in Germany and focuses on 800 years of Jewish history in Frankfurt. It was rebuilt for five years until it opened on Oct. 21, 2021, with a rather ascetic ceremony in the Alte Oper, allowed with hygiene measures due to the pandemic. The Jewish Museum has its own YouTube channel with many informative and worth seeing films, it is present on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram with daily posts, all of which are stimulating and make curious to visit – at present and later.

CULTURE, EVENTS, AND CURIOSITY

Frankfurt, as a small but decidedly powerful metropolis, now also features Jewish Film Days in May and Jewish Culture Weeks in September. Jewish life in its diversity is not limited to the aforementioned buildings but takes place everywhere in Frankfurt because there is an impressive range of Jewish institutions and activities here. One example is the Frankfurt Schönstädt Lodge, B’nai B’rith, which was founded in 1888 as the 20th B’nai B’rith Lodge in Germany and whose members were highly active and volunteered for the common good. Banned during the Third Reich, it was re-founded in Frankfurt in 1961 – with changed tasks but always remaining true to its ideals and values.

In the beautiful old rooms of the lodge, cultural events of various kinds take place at regular intervals, which are very popular in the city society.

Jewish life in Frankfurt is also embodied by the brothers James and David Ardinast. They enrich the gastronomic and nightlife culture of our city with many restaurants such as the “Stanley Diamond” or the “Bar Shuka” in Niddastraße. Another example of this diversity is the Jewish Community Center for the Elderly, nursing home with a residential facility for the elderly, and the Henry and Emma Budge Foundation Care Center, which is open to Jews and Christians alike. Both facilities also offer numerous cultural events, which many Frankfurt residents enjoy attending. Representative of many activities within Jewish life in Frankfurt is the Interfaith Choir, which is jointly organized by two choirmasters, the Protestant cantor Bettina Strübel and the Jewish Chasan Daniel Kempin, which signifies another facet.

Perhaps the readers of this article have become curious about many more Jewish traditions and stories of our city Frankfurt am Main, freely according to the motto: “A new kind of thinking is necessary if mankind wants to live on” (Albert Einstein).


Eva-Maria Klatt, retired senior lecturer, Deputy Chairwoman of the DiG Frankfurt (German-Israeli Society)

JEWISH MUSEUM FRANKFURTwww.juedischesmuseum.de

Source: LinkedIn

FINANCIAL CENTRE FRANKFURT: Digitalization & “Asset Class Data Centers” – Real Estate, REITs and ESG (Michael Jakobi, contagi Digital Impact Group)

CoVid 19 is one of yet multiple indicators showing the global economy – like society as a whole – needs a powerful digital infrastructure if it wants to provide growth and prosperity in the long run. However, the current pandemic crisis represents a catalyst increasing the speed of change and, in particular in Germany, has brought up the topic of digital infrastructure and data centers, and made it a subject of public discussion. The topic´s ambivalence is obvious: While many German companies are struggling with digitization, German fiber network access for households (FTTH) remains at a low 12 percent. Yet, at the same time, Germany beyond its borders is known for an excellent fiber optic network, state-of-the-art data center space and, referring to De-CIX Frankfurt, hosts the world’s largest internet node in terms of data throughput. Peak traffic at De-CIX reached 9.1 Tbit / s in March 2020 and 10 Tbit / s in November last year – both rates representing world records.

AUTHOR: Michael Jakobi, LL.M. is a consultant and project manager in the field of digital innovation & infrastructure at contagi Digital Impact Group – www.contagi.ch

Frankfurt´s and thus Germany´s transformation into an international digital hub has historical, but above all geographical and geopolitical reasons. Typical for real estate, Frankfurt´s location also is decisive for data centers. Nodes where submarine cables land or, as in Frankfurt, where the world’s fiber optic backbones cross, are predestined as an exchange platform if they also offer a business ecosystem. That eco system needs to include international companies as well as SMEs, and an end customer base possessing economic strength, as well as qualified employees and specialized service providers. Metropolitan region Rhine-Main represents such an ecosystem.  The international banking and digital infrastructure heavyweight counts almost six million inhabitants, including three million employees in a widely diversified economic landscape. In addition, the location as such is geographically well positioned: The region represents the middle of Europe, where data streams meet originating from across the Atlantic (via England / London and the Netherlands / Amsterdam) as well as data streams originating from Scandinavia and Southern Europe. Those are linked with Mediterranean submarine cable hubs, which in turn connect Germany with Asia and Africa.

All of that explains why regarding Frankfurt business premises international players in the data center industry are willing to pay 2000 € / m², ten times the local standard for commercial property on the outskirts of Frankfurt. Taking into consideration the horrendous investment costs of a data center itself, which (without the cost of the property) can quickly run into three-digit million figures, and considering high level sales and distribution requirements, it becomes obvious why the data center asset class –  despite massive, sustainable growth and downright fantastic returns – in large parts remains in the hands of specialized REITS such as Digital Realty, KeppelDC REIT as well as telecommunications groups such as NTT and 1 & 1. Those vehicles in turn own or rent to colocation providers such as Interxion, Equinix or Maincubes, which again in turn provide server space for companies and hyperscalers, i.e. cloud providers such as Amazon AWS.

Given that background of specialists and global players, the question arises whether the entry barriers for capital, market penetration and know-how for SMEs, project developers and non-institutional investors are not already too high to jump on the bandwagon.

Today, large cloud providers like Microsoft (Azure), Google and Amazon AWS, are securing their oligopoly position in metropolitan areas. With the establishment of availability zones growth of colocation providers in Frankfurt is leveraged, same as in the Rhine-Ruhr and the greater Berlin area, in Hamburg and in Munich. The cloud hype in addition is reinforced by efforts of the EU and its Gaia-X program. Yet, many technologies that are currently evolving, like 5G, autonomous driving and IoT, are exemplary, and require a high density network of data processing and storage levels, small data centers within a distance of less than one kilometer (Edge), regional sub-hubs (Fog) and international (cloud) hubs, a structure resembling a distribution network in logistics.

Apart from a few European metropolitan regions, the Rhine Main area is currently anything but comprehensive and thus offers considerable potential for regional players – like energy suppliers, project developers and property / real estate owners as well as SMEs. Regardless of investment costs being considerably even when it comes to smaller data centers, in areas outside of Frankfurt, it is possible to keep investments low due to lower property costs and modular construction methods – without at the same time having to forfeit latest, environmentally friendly technology and scalability.

Sustainability or ESG is a topic already playing a central role when it comes to data centers in Germany. The issue is driven by corporate responsibility, legal requirements, or simply out of economic reasons. Germany with its ultra high energy prices even on a global level does not exempt data centers from the EEG surcharge, an additional cost factor punishing high energy consumption. In addition, power grid expansion in some metropolitan areas is not keeping up with demand, representing a significant challenge in particular for Frankfurt. Precisely that creates opportunities for regions where energy supply is a given, or, like in Northern Germany, where a surplus of alternative energy is found. Integrating data centers into local structures – waste heat utilization, smart energy storage, charging infrastructures, etc. – will transform data centers into ESG supporters, and stop them from being marked part of a problem. This integration, however, requires the involvement of local and regional actors – and offers them the opportunity to participate in data centers and the profits they produce.

It can thus be stated that data centers can be highly interesting not only as the basis of digitization for society in general. Also, they represent an asset class for open minded, modern companies and investors. All of that works even on a small scale – given the right approach to the market and technology level are provided. And what´s more, a number of regions in Germany, today still white spots for international providers, with their innovative companies and qualified employees, can set up a link to the world, and enable regional actors to design digital infrastructures on a level playing field with international players.


Michael Jakobi, LL.M. is a consultant and project manager in the field of digital innovation & infrastructure at contagi Digital Impact Group – www.contagi.ch

Quelle: LinkedIn

FINANCIAL CENTRE FRANKFURT:„One often finds different perspectives on due diligence here with family offices, foundations, and classic institutional investors“

The conference „Germany Institutional Forum“ will take place in Frankfurt am Main at the beginning of December. The independent industry expert Markus Hill will moderate a panel there. Within the topic, Opportunistic Alternative Investments, topics such as investments in hedge funds, private equity, and commodities, and „miscellaneous“ will be discussed. IPE Institutional Investment Editor-in-Chief Frank Schnattinger talked to him about the panel, other conference contents, about Frankfurt am Main and about the moderation of the MH Focus Roundtable „Fund Boutiques, Family Offices and Absolute Return“, which will take place shortly before in Frankfurt on November 27. At this event, the topic of „Family Offices and Manager Selection“ will be discussed closely in connection with the topic of Liquid Alternatives.

IPE Institutional Investment: Which topics will be addressed at the conference „Germany Institutional Forum“?

Hill: The conference takes place annually and is aimed at institutional investors. A wide range of topics are addressed in lectures and panels: Convertible Bond Market, Macro Outlook, Asset Allocation, Factor Investing, Real Assets (Real Estate, Energy, Infrastructure), and Global Fixed Income. Topics such as opportunistic alternative investments, investments in emerging markets, and the integration of ESG criteria in the investment process for institutional investors will also be discussed. My experience on my panel last year on „Passive versus active management, the edition of an old debate“ is that it can be very controversial.

IPE Institutional Investment: Which specific points are taken up and discussed in your panel?

Hill: As in the previous year, I do not want to anticipate the content of my discussion and the interests of my panel members. The topic „Opportustic Alternative Investments“ will be at the center of the discussion. Participants will include Trutz Rendtorff, Chief Financial Officer of the Karg Foundation, Marcus Storr, Head of Hedge Funds at FERI Trust GmbH, and Tara Moor, Managing Director at Guggenheim Partners. My experience from other contexts is that the topic offers many starting points for discussion. I experienced Dr. Thomas Rüschen of Deutsche Oppenheim Family Office AG as a moderator at the Private Wealth Forum of the Markets Group in Munich in October. He had discussed the topic more with a focus on semi-institutional investors and HNWIs. Our panel in Frankfurt will focus on the question of which alternative investments can still generate attractive returns for institutional investors in risk-adjusted terms: What role does private equity play in a diversified portfolio? What alternatives are there in the area of hedge funds and commodities? Are there investment alternatives that are perhaps often only accessible with increased due diligence effort and a special know-how network? In the current low-interest-rate environment, the tension between a liquid and non-liquid alternative investments is perhaps also worthy of additional consideration. The role of product packaging could also be an issue. Real assets – direct investment, AIFs, listed equity, these topics could also be of additional interest. In due diligence, one often finds different perspectives in family offices, foundations, and classic institutional investors.

IPE Institutional Investment: Do you have a specific opinion on the panel’s topic area?

Hill: No, the panelists have their area of knowledge. I can only make suggestions. What I notice again and again is that nowadays the area of liquid and non-liquid products, including direct investments, is viewed much more „holistically“ on the product selection side of institutional and semi-institutional. This can be seen, for example, from the fact that the area of equity investments – especially venture capital and private equity – is also found in combination with the selection of direct investments in the area of real assets (real estate, etc.), for example, and that the specialist areas of investors are also involved in an intensive exchange of ideas within the organisation. An indicator for this could also be that these topics and the experts are often no longer strictly separated from one another, even at specialist conferences, and that there is a greater willingness to discuss them on an „interdisciplinary“ basis. Family offices and foundations, but also pension schemes and consultants, represent a special area here, with „soft“ demarcation from insurance companies or pension funds. Perhaps this impression of this site is also since 2015. I have accompanied small events twice a year with Prof. Dr. Carlos Jarillo as a moderator. As the author of the book „Strategic Logic – The Sources of Long-Term Corporate Profitability“ and manager of a value fund, one of the topics has been frequent before semi-institutional investors: Value Investing – differences, advantages and disadvantages of liquid fund management approaches (classic, more liquid mutual funds) versus non-liquid product solutions (private equity). At the last meeting in Munich, interestingly enough, in connection with my panel topic at the German Institutional Forum, the connection between value investing, sustainability, and the selection criteria of commodity investments were also discussed.

IPE Institutional Investment: In the run-up to the German Institutional Forum on November 27, you organized a separate event in Frankfurt on the topic of „Fund Boutiques, Family Offices, and Absolute Return“. What is the focus of your event?

Hill: This MH Focus Roundtable is an investor event on a very small scale, which will be held at the premises of MM. Warburg & Co. in Frankfurt. Reiner Konrad from the Multi-Family Office will give a presentation on „Family Offices, Fund Boutiques & Manager Selection“. Dr. Björn Borchers from Warburg Invest will give a lecture on „Liquid Alternatives – Volatility as an alternative source of return“, Manfred Gridl from Gridl Asset Management will give a lecture on „Our response to the ECB interest rate policy“. (See also attached photo). I will give a short intro and moderate the event. It will be a breakfast exchange of ideas in a small group.

IPE Institutional Investment: Why did you choose this topic?

Hill: Since 2013, I have always been able to accompany panel discussions with fund selectors on the topic of due diligence of funds (liquid and non-liquid). I am also familiar with the field of fund selection from my work, as well as from supporting fund boutiques in special topics. For three years, including in 2018 – in addition to FundForum International also at funds excellence in Frankfurt – I have been able to discuss these topics even more exclusively with family offices. The idea was born, so to speak, from many professional discussions with product selection managers on the family office side – in one-on-one meetings on projects (manager selection and fund concept checks at fund boutiques) and in connection with moderation, lecture and article topics that I have worked on. It is interesting to note that fund boutiques are another special field. Here, areas such as business start-up, life cycle, seed money in addition to track record, fund size, and investment process are also interesting fields of discussion. Factors such as manager personality, specialisation, skin-in-the-game, independence, and, last but not least, long-term thinking on the entrepreneurial side appear to be even more decisive. Not to forget: These independents do what they love!

IPE Institutional Investment: Which topic area are you currently looking at more closely

Hill: Opportunistic Alternative Investments can be interpreted in different ways, maybe I just interpret it in my way. One approach would be to look at the things that often don’t need to be sold in principle. These include many providers from the mid-market, „boutiques“, with products and services that are certainly „needed“ but which one often does not encounter or only with difficulty. On the one hand, this category exists because the providers do not market themselves aggressively or do not want to aggressively „advertise“ themselves in this form, and on the other hand, because this approach to marketing is often less recommendable for these providers, also for reputation reasons. Here one gets to know again and again addresses, which offer excellent quality. The performance is right, the professional background is right, you come from the target group to which you provide these products, you are invested in your products yourself, etc. – a market that I see completely separate from the more „market scream“ classic investment product market. To put it in a completely value-free way, the starting positions for both product categories are simply different: One has something that is needed, but nobody knows about it. The other has something that may not necessarily be needed or there is an enormous surplus of comparable competitors – inevitably the sales approach is different. Interesting here are many entrepreneurially set up AIF structures in many areas – real assets in various, especially niche areas, as an example. In the family office sector, such things are often found, combined with the unwillingness to offer one’s products, which one is convinced of with skin-in-the-game, to third parties. Here, for reasons of public welfare, a helpful maxim would often be appropriate: „Do good and talk about it!

IPE Institutional Investment: Thank you very much for the interview.



Source: www.institutional-investment.de
Photo: www.pixabay.com

FINANCIAL CENTRE FRANKFURT: Frankfurt Spring & Investors – Events, Fressgass and Value Investing

“It is good to rub and polish our mind against that of others” (Michel Eyquem de Montaigne). Frankfurt am Main, as a city, always offers sufficient reason for rubbing and polishing. On the one hand, against the background of topics such as Brexit, ECB policy, and the financial industry, the importance of the business location is given priority; on the other hand, the city is often wrongly accused of lacking attractiveness in areas such as culture and quality of life. Controversial views invite dialogue, so far so good. Frankfurt’s qualities as a central location and multiplier are undisputed when it comes to topics such as financial communication and financial industry events. In addition to well-known formats such as the BVI Asset Management Conference, Institutional Money Congress, or formats such as the German Equity Forum, there are a large number of lesser-known, smaller events. What are the differences between certain formats? When and where in spring will value investing fans enjoy and enjoy the exchange of ideas in the Main metropolis?

Formats of events

1. education & networking

Some events serve the exchange of ideas from industry to industry. Here the focus is more on expanding know-how and networking with participants from the financial industry. Especially for sponsors of such events, it is important at the beginning to sort out the exact character of these formats. Otherwise, the normal impression is created here: “More hunters than a game”. An investor then sits, so to speak, between three sales employees of product suppliers. A dialogue-free of compulsion and open to results often cannot develop here. One feels the intention and is upset. This is one of the reasons why many “real” investors increasingly stay away from such formats. A problem that many classic event organizers, not only in Frankfurt, have to struggle with. It is an unfortunate trend, as many of these formats offer very high-quality lectures and panel discussions. For sponsors who like to exchange ideas in the industry or who are looking for more visibility, these formats offer a good platform. The professional audience can be grateful if a “public-interest” task (diffusion of knowledge) is taken on by financial market players here, so to speak.

A disadvantaged group of sponsors is often foreign companies that have not thoroughly screened the market here and in the end unintentionally spent a substantial part of their marketing budget on large-format educational events, although they wanted to invest in business development. Visibility and market research seems to be less in demand for many of these addresses. What seems more interesting to these providers is the targeted, direct contact with investors, who are expected to sign “tickets” in the foreseeable future, once a relationship of trust has been established. This is a purpose for which many of the large events are not actually intended and with which the organizers can generally be overburdened. The support of “formats with a high scattering loss” is no problem for major players from abroad, companies with boutique character will lack the sustainable financial strength after a while to be able to pursue a market entry strategy in the long term. To be fair, it has to be said that most organizers of this event category emphasize the educational character and pure networking orientation of the event, at least in marketing materials. Perhaps one explanation for the suboptimal selection of formats among suppliers can simply be that the sales and marketing departments have not yet been sufficiently coordinated. The objectives of marketing / PR and sales managers do not necessarily have to be the same for structural reasons (example: criteria for measurability of success – internal discussion: press clipping, page impression versus “tickets”, sales, business development).

2. education & business development

Small, specialized events are a popular format for developing direct investor contact. These are organized by the product providers either internally or with external support. These formats are often invitation-only and participants are pre-filtered. In contrast to the above-mentioned “educational events”, which have a greater scattering loss with a purely business development objective, these events usually pursue the purpose of maintaining existing customers or acquiring new customers. Of course, there is always a core educational element and also the goal of gaining multipliers for your concern (business development). For many investors, the charm of such formats lies in the fact that you will find many professional colleagues at these events, with whom you can then exchange views on specialist topics on a small scale. All participants are also aware that the speakers want to present products or services. However, since it is often known from experience that here investors also exchange ideas directly with investors in a pleasant atmosphere, this is gladly accepted – as long as the sales staff of the product provider show sufficient tact in communication.

Spring 2018 – Value Investing, joy and the cultivated exchange of ideas

Examples of different formats dealing with Value Investing in spring: Prof. Dr. J. Carlos Jarillo of SIA Funds AG covers the topic “Strategic Investing, Value Investing & Fund Boutiques” on 19.4. (Transparency – MH-Kurzintro, “bias”). Topics such as the differences between private equity funds and classic liquid investment funds and family office long-term thinking will also be discussed. Dr. Hendrik Leber and his team from ACATIS Investment will organize the ACATIS Value Conference, a classic for value investors, on May 25. Frank Fischer from Shareholder Value AG will give the keynote speech at the Equity Forum spring conference (14.-15.5.), quoting the format: “Listed companies present their current business figures and outlook for the following financial year to selected investors, analysts, financial journalists, and other capital market players”. It is interesting to note that in the value investing sector, many product packages/approaches often complement each other, that there are variations, different worlds come together: The areas of the liquid and non-liquid investment world have many common intersections, at least at the “edges” (decision-making processes of investors, product selection, asset allocation, etc.).

The Value Investing Meeting of value DACH will take place in Frankfurt on 23.5., at the end of the event a completely different format for the professional exchange of ideas of people interested in value investing, in the organizer’s own words: “At the meetings, we will exchange ideas with each other in a relaxed atmosphere. We are out and about in various restaurants in different parts of the city of Frankfurt. In doing so, we also broaden our culinary horizons”. Coincidentally, the season for the Fressgassfest in Frankfurt begins on the same day, traditionally one of the first and best-known street festivals of the season – for friends of sun, wine, and conviviality a highlight of the year, not only for the financial industry. To begin with, let’s take up the remarks about an often seemingly critical metropolis – Frankfurt am Main, enjoyment, thinking outside the box and a cultivated exchange of ideas are by no means mutually exclusive!


Source: www.institutional-investment.de
Photo: www.pixabay.com

FINANCIAL CENTRE FRANKFURT: “For the fund industry Frankfurt unlike Luxembourg is the location par excellence especially for product development, fund management and distribution” (Interview – Thomas Richter)

Frankfurt is the central location for the professional exchange of ideas in the fund industry in Germany. Events such as the BVI Asset Management Conference on the 6th of October are offering this year again the opportunity, to stay informed of all the current developments in the industry. Markus Hill spoke in the name of FONDSBOUTIQUEN.DE to Thomas Richter, CEO of The German Fund Association BVI, about the conference topics, current affairs and as well about the special “charm” the city Frankfurt has to offer as a venue.

Hill: Mr. Richter, on the 6th of October the BVI Asset Management Conference takes place in Frankfurt. What distinguishes this industry event from other formats? Which topics are this years priorities?

Richter: The BVI Asset Management Conference is meanwhile an industry gathering/networking of the year. It gives an overview on current developments at the capital market and about the regulatory and strategic challenges the industry is facing. It is not a trade fair, rather a non-commercial platform. This year, among others ex-constitutionalists Udo Di Fabio, Head of Asset Management at the European Commission Sven Gentner and Consumer Protection Chairman Klaus Müller are among the guests. The topics range from the current challenges in Europe about the risk management of pension funds right up to cyber security and digitalization trends in fund sales.

Hill: Frankfurt is an attractive location for sharing and exchanging expertise in the fund industry. Many fund companies have their headquarters here. What is it in your eyes that makes the “Main metropolis” so attractive to many industry peers? With the BREXIT in mind is there still additional potential for this location?

Richter: Frankfurt can build on many strengths. The city plays an important role in Europe in regard to the monetary policy and financial market regulations. It has evolved in recent years to the home of national and international financial organizations and regulatory agencies such as: ECB, Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), German Central Bank and the EU insurance supervisory EIOPA which all are already here. Whether Frankfurt attracts more financial companies from the Thames to the Main after the BREXIT, remains a question. The density is already high: Nowhere else in Germany are more companies from the financial industry located than in Frankfurt. For the fund industry Frankfurt unlike Luxembourg is the location par excellence especially for product development, fund management and distribution.

Hill: At present which topics are your main focus? What is the focal point of your activities in the next 12 months?

Richter: The topics on pension plan and retirement arrangements are highly up to date. After the summer break the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) intends to submit a pension policy concept. That should be exciting, because for the promotion of occupational pensions, BVI receivables such as the opting out or the target pension are currently being discussed in politics. At EU level, the financial market policy MiFID II and the PRIIPs-
Regulation are perennial favorites.


Source: www.institutional-investment.de
Photo: www.pixabay.de

FINANCIAL CENTRE FRANKFURT:“Frankfurt can build on many strengths” (Interview – Thomas Richter)

Frankfurt is the central location for the professional exchange of ideas of the fund industry in Germany. Formats such as the BVI Asset Management Conference on October 1 will again offer the opportunity to find out about current developments in the industry. Markus Hill spoke on behalf of FONDSBOUTIQUEN.DE with Thomas Richter, Chief Executive of the German fund association BVI, about conference content, current topics, and the special “charm” of the city Frankfurt as a venue.

Hill: Mr. Richter, the BVI Asset Management Conference will again be held in Frankfurt on October 1. What makes this conference different from other events?

Richter: The BVI Asset Management Conference has developed into the industry meeting of the year. It provides an overview of current developments in the capital market and of the regulatory and strategic challenges facing the industry. It is not a trade fair and as a non-commercial platform, it regularly convinces with its programme and speakers. This year, for example, ECB Chief Economist Peter Praet, BaFin President Felix Hufeld, Hessian Economics Minister Tarek Al-Wazir, and EU Member of Parliament Burkhard Balz are among the participants. We are expecting 500 participants again.

Hill: Frankfurt is an attractive location for the exchange of ideas in the fund industry. What do you think makes the Main metropolis so attractive for many colleagues in the industry?

Richter: Frankfurt can build on many strengths. In recent years, the city has developed into the home of national and international financial organizations and supervisory authorities. Whether ECB, BaFin, Bundesbank, or the EU insurance supervisory authority EIOPA – Frankfurt plays a decisive role in Europe concerning monetary policy and financial market regulation. Nowhere else in Germany are there more companies from the financial sector than in Frankfurt. In 2014, around 200 banks were based here, plus 34 representative offices of foreign institutions – not to mention Deutsche Börse as one of the world’s leading exchange and settlement operators. The investment companies are also strong here. More than half of the BVI members are based in Frankfurt. Over 70 percent of the 2.6 trillion euros that the fund industry manages for customers in Germany are managed from here. In contrast to Luxembourg, where funds are launched, Frankfurt is the location for product development, fund management, and sales.

Hill: What topics are you currently working on intensively?

Richter: The investment tax reform, Solvency II and MiFID II are the current topics. The latter regulates, among other things, commission consulting. The debate on systemic relevance is also a constant issue. Indeed, FSB and IOSCO have now realized that the business of asset managers is more relevant than their size or that of their funds. But the issue will remain on the regulatory and political agenda.

Hill: Thank you very much for the interview.


Source: www.institutional-investment.de

Photo: www.pixabay.com

FINANCIAL CENTRE FRANKFURT:“Frankfurt’s Autumn” for family offices, asset managers and foundations

“Speak, that I may see you” (Socrates). This or something similar could be the motto under which the asset management industry and investors frequently meet in Frankfurt. This autumn seems promising. Interestingly, the voice of the independent will be heard more often: Family offices, asset managers and foundations are entering into a fruitful dialog, three examples of many: “Management Forum Asset Management” (Frankfurt School of Finance & Management), “Frankfurter Dialog for Family Offices and Asset Management ” (Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek) and “trend forum and Asset Management” (portfolio Verlagsgesellschaft). To be fair, one could also refer to the Düsseldorf event “German Asset Management Day” (VuV – Verband unabhängiger Vermögensverwalter Deutschland e.V./ VuV Association of Independent Asset Managers), which is organized from Frankfurt and will also take place in November. What interesting topics are discussed in Frankfurt, for example? What are the interesting keywords for the dialog partners?

Low-interest phase

Plant emergency – whether explicitly in the meeting program mentioned or by lecture and discussion to expect: Under these keywords, one can summarize many of the meeting elements, which concern themselves with the range investment and products. Whether institutional or semi-institutional investors or private investors – solutions are sought. Procyclic versus risk management – flight from bonds into risky investments? Is the next foundation for a financial bubble now being laid or will there be a constructive, know-how-based adjustment in the investment behavior of investors?

Family offices and asset managers

Not only this autumn, but these target groups will also be strongly courted by the product supplier side. It is interesting to note that family offices – often forgetting the “pseudo-scientific” use of the definition of the family office – also want to increasingly promote their products. If the client has done well with this in the past and there is transparency for their clients regarding possible conflicts of interest, the request appears legitimate. As long as there are still many different forms and intermediate forms of family offices and no clarity of terminology exists, the smooth transition between asset management and consulting, controlling, and reporting will remain an interesting area of discussion. Family offices offer asset management, asset managers offer family office services – may the target group-oriented solutions be revealed in competition as discovery processes (F. A. von Hayek). Untouched by this, neutral, equally independent family offices “without” products will continue to look after their clients.

Foundations

Asset emergency and product solutions move foundation decision-makers. A relativization may be allowed: Perhaps there is no lack of product offerings, but perhaps a lack of time and know-how in some foundations? Due Diligence needs time. Foundation size and volume in the investment area can create a bottleneck in terms of personnel resources for the examination of the diverse offerings in the market. The financial industry may be overestimating itself, or perhaps it has learned that the world is not just about capital investment for foundation decision-makers. Mission Investing – the smooth transition between fulfilling the foundation’s purpose, fundraising, and sustainability in the holistic sense of the foundation’s mission are also points that are intensively discussed at Frankfurt events. A positive trend: Foundations will gradually discover which product providers not only pursue short-term sales interests but also have a longer-term partnership based on a competitive product offering.

Regulation

AIFM, MIFID, KAGB, and various other abbreviations of the wide world of regulation will have room for discussion at many events in Frankfurt. Many of the KVGen such as Universal-Investment, Hansainvest, Ampega, and other well-known addresses are well known among independent asset managers, family offices, and foundations. For independent asset managers questions of consulting liability can be in the foreground. Fund advisory, fund management and club deals (e.g. real estate) are topics of discussion that meet with a positive response from all three target groups. The VuV and also many law firms in Frankfurt have an expertise advantage here due to the “regulatory dynamics” (interpretation etc.) in these fields.

Independence and trust

Of course, there will always be the group-bound world of product suppliers. Banks and capital investment companies of various sizes offer recognized solutions for the target groups. This class of providers is addressed in part by the events. The not group-bound, independent product offerers stand however clearly in the foreground of the “Frankfurt autumn”. The author of these lines has carried out his survey of this group of investors (in addition to funds of funds management, family office, and private banking) as part of the “1st Funds Boutique Panel” – interestingly enough, independents often like to buy independents. An unambiguous interpretation should be deferred here – in addition to the element of performance, the element of trust in the areas of specialization and long-term thinking can also play a role. Competitive performance is naturally assumed here.

Conclusion

Frankfurt is an excellent location for the professional exchange of ideas at a high level. National and international suppliers and investors meet here. The networking of different providers and target groups is increasing – product packaging, asset classes, and customer segments are losing their discriminatory power in the discussion. The banking crisis has led to controversial discussions, but perhaps a second, “holistic” level is developing in the culture of discussion alongside the established product and event-level – the dissolution of the rigid target group philosophy on the provider side: perhaps from “Who can I sell my product to?” to “With whom do I want to build a good business relationship in the long term? Established industry and the “independents” would sustainably pursue location marketing!


Source: www.institutional-investment.de
Photo: www.pixabay.com