If you take a look at the German fund boutiques, you will quickly see that a topic is getting closer and closer: The generation change is slowly becoming virulent, after all, the majority of the companies were launched around 20 years ago or earlier. Many founders are still at the top of their companies as managing partners or CEOs, most of them are over 55 years old. FONDS professional wanted to find out what the next generation of the industry is like and spoke to independent asset managers who offer funds.
Hendrik Leber, founder and managing partner of the Frankfurt investment boutique Acatis, has no plans to run his company until he is 90. “I have committed myself to stay with the company until I am 70,” says the now 64-year-old. Until then, there will also be other commitments that he has entered into in committees outside of Acatis, so this period fits very well. But it was important to him to prepare for the generation change in the fund boutique early on. “This is a topic that the Supervisory Board also addresses time and again,” reports Leber.
“Half a generation leap”
For this reason, two managing directors have already been appointed for the future at Acatis who are significantly younger than Leber himself. He speaks of a “half-generation leap”. “We have also defined key people at the management level who could support the company if it suddenly became necessary,” reports the company founder. These employees are between 35 and 40 years old, and the next generation actually comes to the helm here. Leber does not want to mention names yet.
“Together with the future managing directors and the key executives, we made certain considerations, such as what the company should look like in 2030, who the competitors or the key products will be, and at which locations we want to be represented,” says Leber. With the corresponding answers, Acatis’s strategy for the next few years has not yet been formulated, but broadly outlined. “We are of course still working on it, but the course is definitely already clear,” says Leber.
Pass management into other hands
Will he really say goodbye to his company when he’s 70 years old? “I would really like to continue with my favorite funds afterwards, but I want to transfer the management into other hands,” he explains. “I would then like to take a few days’ spontaneous vacation, at the moment that is not possible, the calendar is too full for that,” says Hendrik Leber. (am)
You can find a detailed report on how German fund boutiques are preparing the generation change in the current issue 4/2021 of FONDS professional. Registered users can also read the article here in the e-magazine.
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