IVG Immobilien AG is to expand and round out its Board of Management team with two respected and experienced real estate and financial experts as at October 1, 2011.
The Supervisory Board has appointed Christian Kühni (56) as an ordinary member of the Board of Management of IVG Immobilien AG. In his role as COO, Kühni will be responsible in particular for IVG's operating units.
Kühni has decades of experience in the real estate and financial sector, most recently as Managing Director for Product Development & Fund Management at Wealth Management Capital Holding, a subsidiary of the Unicredit Group.
His international career in the real estate sector has included management positions at HypoVereinsbank AG, sanofi-aventis S.A. and ABB Immobilien AG with global responsibility for the extensive real estate assets of these companies.
He also has several years' experience in management positions in the area of finance, including at ABB Credit B.V., BP Oil International Ltd. and a company now part of the Royal Bank of Canada.
The Supervisory Board has also appointed Dr Hans Volkert Volckens (41) as an ordinary member of the Board of Management of IVG Immobilien AG. As Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Dr Volckens' responsibilities will include heading IVG's corporate functions Finance, Accounting & Taxes, Controlling and Legal & Compliance.
Dr Volckens qualified as a lawyer in 1999 and as a tax consultant in 2002, followed by professional positions as an equity partner and head of the tax and funds department of Beiten Burkhardt Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH and as managing director of Hannover Leasing GmbH & Co. KG.
In spring 2011, he was appointed to the Board of Management of IC Immobilien Holding AG, where he is responsible for the corporate functions in particular.
As already announced, Dr Wolfgang Schäfers will take over the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) as at November 1, 2011 from Dr Gerhard Niesslein, who is leaving the company as planned when his contract expires on October 31, 2011.
In addition, the Supervisory Board has appointed Guido Piñol (IVG Investment GmbH), Bernhard Berg (IVG Institutional Funds GmbH) and Peter Forster (IVG Asset Management GmbH) as Group Executive Managers due to their extraordinary performance as managing directors of their respective divisions. Together with the new Board of Management team, they will push forward energetically on the restructuring path that IVG has chosen.
To further optimize the Group's strategic and operational integration, IVG is to introduce a Group Executive Committee consisting of the Board of Management members and the Group Executive Managers who hold positions directly below the Board.
Detlef Bierbaum, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of IVG Immobilien AG, comments: "By bringing together experienced external and internal experts, we are creating a seamless transition in completing IVG's management team. All of the candidates have the necessary 'passion for real assets' in line with IVG's new tag line.
"In terms of strategy, the entire management team of IVG will continue with equal vigor to pursue the goals already communicated: reducing risks and debt to create the basis for future profitable growth as an integrated investment platform for real estate and infrastructure facilities."
Source: IVG Immobilien AG
