Fitness to Lead: Andreas Utermann & Jonathan Bowman-Perks: Inspiring leadership interview
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Andreas Utermann – Former CEO Allianz Global Investor & Advisor
In a career spanning over 35 years, Andreas rose from being a banking apprentice at Deutsche Bank and graduate trainee at SG Warburg, to CEO of Allianz Global Investors, a role he relinquished on 1st January, 2020. He is currently Advisor to the firm. Andreas’s core beliefs and leadership principles were born of his life experience: Born in Belgium of German immigrant parents, losing his father suddenly at barely 12 years of age; gaining 2 years’ work experience after his Baccalaureate and before University studies, having to work every day to finance these; immigrating to the UK and building a career with no contacts there. Andreas had no real career plan – rather he was keen to work in an environment that furthered intellectual curiosity, interacting with interesting people and a maximum of individual freedom. Building on his personal experience, Andreas led by example and built an environment of trust, based on integrity, mutual respect and the concept that decisions, however difficult, needed to be seen as ‘fair’. He is particularly proud of that fact that no-one who ever worked for him directly resigned from their position.
Andreas Utermann is an executive advisor to Allianz Global Investors. He was previously CEO and co-Head of the firm.
Andreas has worked for AllianzGI since 2002 and was a member of the Global Executive Committee from 2002 – 2019, initially serving as Global CIO Equities and becoming Global CIO and co-Head in 2012. In March 2016 Andreas was appointed sole CEO.
Prior to joining AllianzGI, he spent twelve years working at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (formerly Mercury Asset Management now Black Rock), where he became Global Head and CIO Equities as well as Member of various Boards. Before this, Andreas worked for several years at Deutsche Bank AG.
Andreas is Vice Chair and member of the Board of ICMA. He sits on the European Institute’s Advisory Board and the Advisory Council of the UK’s Investment Association. Previously, Andreas was a board member of the CFA Society of the UK from 2011 to 2017.
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