GERMANY - Martin Theisinger, Schroders' country head for Germany and Austria, has announced he will leave the firm this summer. Achim Küssner, head of Blackrock's German operations, will take over.

Theisinger told IPE he will leave the Frankfurt office on June 30, but declined to reveal where he will go next: "I don't want to say anything yet. After June 30 I will enjoy the summer and I'm sure I will find a place elsewhere soon enough, but it is too early to say where."

He decided to leave Schroders after five years as he did not agree with the board on the short-term goals of the firm. Theisinger favours a more reserved growth strategy for the investment manager's German operation.

Over the next few months Theisinger says he will work on a "smooth transition", while finishing the remaining projects he is working on before Küssner, who has already left Blackrock, will take over on July 1.

Blackrock announced that Andrej Brodnik, head of Blackrock's German retail business, will take over from Küssner in Frankfurt.

Küssner previously headed Merrill Lynch Investment Management's German operation and reports speculate that Blackrock's acquisition of the firm contributed to his decision to leave.

Schroders posted a net outflow of institutional assets of £4.6bn (€6.8bn) last summer. The firm's German arm, which said it plans to "accelerate the rate of growth", has €4bn in asset under management. This in comparison to Blackrock's €18bn, around half of which is institutional.

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