Stefan Hoops, a protégé of Christian Sewing, Deutsche chief executive, will take over from Asoka Wöhrmann next week, inheriting a business being investigated by US and German authorities after a whistleblower accused DWS of misrepresenting how it used environmental, social and governance metrics to analyse companies across its investment platform.
Hoops had known for some time that he was in the running to take over at DWS, Deutsche Bank’s
majority owned asset manager beset by allegations of greenwashing. But a police raid on both
companies’ Frankfurt offices catapulted the 42-year old Deutsche executive into the centre of
Germany’s latest corporate catastrophe earlier than expected.
While both the asset manager and Deutsche continue to deny any wrongdoing, Hoops will be left with some “cleaning up” to do when it comes to DWS’s reputation, in the words of a leading investor.
A person close to both companies said the nomination of Hoops, who joined Deutsche as a graduate in 2003, would not mean DWS was being “pulled back into the mother ship”. Its aim to become one of the world’s top-10 asset managers remained intact. But Hoops must still convince customers and
shareholders that DWS is about to enter calmer waters, even as he becomes the sixth person to lead the business in a decade, during which time a succession of managers left after failing to stem an exodus of clients.
Hoops spoke to his predecessor and DWS’s management team and compiled a list of key customers to call and reassure. No one at DWS or Deutsche has been charged with wrongdoing over green-washing, people close to Hoops were keen to stress, though it could take years for the probes to come to a conclusion.
