UK investment banker to follow in Ackermann’s steady footsteps
AFTER a protracted search for a new chief executive, Deutsche Bank has finally settled on investment banking chief Anshu Jain as being at least half of the solution.
The avid cricketer and wildlife photographer is likely to be joined at the helm by Jürgen Fitschen, global head of regional management, in the culmination of a career that has seen Jain move up the ranks at the German lending giant over the last 16 years.
He joined Deutsche in 1995, after which he found himself promoted at four key moments by current chief exec Josef Ackermann, despite one major handicap: he does not speak fluent German.
The first came in 2001 when Jain took over the fixed income business after his then-boss died in a plane crash.
After building up the team, he was given an additional brief in equities, and played a key role in turning the bank into one of the leading “flow” houses in the world, propelling Deutsche into its position as one of a few top global trading houses.
His next break came in 2009, when Jain was promoted to the bank’s management board, formed of its most senior executives, as co-head of corporate investment banking (CIB).
And when his co-head Michael Cohrs left a year later, Jain took over solo at the behest of Ackermann – a path he might remember well as he ascends the group’s throne again as a co-chief this year.