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Team

Dirk Popielas
Managing Partner

Actuary (DAV)

Dirk has 30 years of experience in life and pension insurance. He was Managing Partner and CIO of a life insurance run-off platform in Germany, 15 years as Managing Director in insurance asset management and investment banking at Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Natixis, and CEO Germany of Sedgwick Noble Lowndes and Mercer.

Dr. Thomas Bloch
Managing Partner


Thomas has 15 years of experience in financial services with focus on corporate finance/M&A as well as wealth and asset management. Most recently, he spent six years as Co-CEO and CFO of a digital wealth manager, and before that eight years in investment banking at J.P. Morgan.

Michael Kutzer
Chief Actuarial and Risk Officer

Actuary (DAV)

Michael has 18 years of experience in life and financial reinsurance. Most recently, he was the Head of Germany for SCOR Global Life. Before that he set up the pension reinsurance business for Munich Re in the UK.

Sebastian Stehling, CFA
Head of Investments


Mr. Stehling has 12 years of experience in asset management and consulting. Most recently, he spent 6 years as Head of Outsourced Asset Management at Prime Capital, where he was responsible for the holistic construction & management of run-off portfolios in liquid and illiquid investments. Prior to that, he spent 6 years at Mercer Germany in the area of investment consulting for institutional investors.

Marcel Krause
Director Origination

Mr. Krause has 8 years of experience in the financial markets sector, with a focus on treasury products and structured solutions. Most recently, he worked as Director Corporate Sales in the division for Key Accounts at LBBW. Before that, he was mainly involved to set up the Treasury Products division for German corporates at SMBC in Germany.

Dr. Wolfgang Zauner
Senior Advisor Origination

Wolfgang has 26 years of experience in corporate banking with focus on global client relationship management and business development in capital markets, structured finance and asset management. Most recently, he was active as Co-Founder and Investor in the FinTech space, and before that 20 years in corporate and investment banking at J.P. Morgan and Bank of America in London, New York and Frankfurt.

Isabella Üfler
Associate Underwriting

Isabella holds a Master’s degree in Accounting and Finance (M. Sc.) from the University of Mainz. She has practical experience in Financial Services - Audit at KPMG, where she worked in process auditing of asset managers and banks, and Client Solutions at Prime Capital AG, an alternative asset manager.

Steffen Veit
Associate Origination

Mr. Veit is a business lawyer (LL.M.) and has over 6 years of experience in the field of SPA & Dispute Advisory, with a focus on the contractual drafting of pricing-relevant matters in M&A transactions and related disputes. Most recently he worked as a manager in Transaction Services at Deloitte.

Tobias Wörhoff
Associate Underwriting

Mr. Wörhoff gained practical experience in Financial Analytics & Reporting at Eurex Frankfurt AG. Subsequently, he worked in Customer Analytics within the Private Banking Division of Deutsche Bank, focusing on process automation and analysis of payment transactions and other customer-specific data.

Alessa Eigenseer
Executive Assistant

Alessa has 15 years of experience in management assistance, including finance, IT and management consulting.
Most recently, she worked for 6 years as a management assistant in a private equity owned industrial services company.


Advisory Board

Dr. Wolf Becke
Chairman of the Advisory Board
 
Wolf was CEO of Hannover Life Re, and Executive Board member of the Hannover Re Group for 20 years, and has over 30 years of experience in life and health reinsurance internationally. He is a Board member and advisor to several international life and reinsurance companies.

Joachim Menke
Vice Chairman of the Advisory Board
 
Joachim is the chief representative of the Duke of Croÿ and his family, and Managing Director of the Duke of Croÿ’s administration. He held executive and senior management positions in the agriculture trade, logistics and industry with Agravis, Champagne Céreales and Deutsche Cargill.

Hans D. Ohlrogge
Member of the Advisory Board
 
Hans was CEO of IBM Pensionskasse and IBM Pensionsfonds, and for 20 years an Executive Board member of all IBM pension corporations in Germany. Previously, he held several senior management positions at IBM, including Head of Internal Audit Central Europe and Chief of Staff Treasury Germany. He is a Board member and advisor to several companies and organisations.

Kai Kaufhold
Member of the Advisory Board, Actuary (DAV)
 
Kai is Managing Director of Ad Res Advanced Reinsurance Services, an actuarial consulting firm specializing in longevity risk. Previously Kai was Partner and Head of Longevity & Prediction Consulting at NMG Consulting and Managing Director at Manulife Reinsurance.

Tanja Gharavi
Advisor, Asset Management
 
Tanja was CIO and Executive Board member of Hamburger Pensionsverwaltung and several pension funds including Hamburger Pensionskasse and Hamburger Pensionsrückdeckungskasse. She has 35 years of experience in institutional asset management.

“Our solution to allow for the full and final release of defined benefit pension obligations shall always be implemented in a way that safeguards the interests of both the pensioners and the former employer. Thus, former employees must be able to continue to fully rely on their corporate pensions as an important part of their overall retirement planning.”
Dirk Popielas, Managing Partner DBR Holding