Dr. Anselm Hüwe has now been a Senior Analyst at quirion for around five years. He deals with topics from portfolio management as well as product development. He tackles many strategic questions and technical details. Current market prices, however, interest him less. A typical daily routine.
8:55 a.m.: Booting up the laptop
Anselm Hüwe is starting his workday from his home office once again. Beforehand, he had quickly dropped one of his three children off at daycare, after breakfast together with the family. These days, Hüwe only goes into the office about once a week. From the home office, Hüwe can more easily take care of something for his family in between. Even so, he sometimes misses the regular, in-person exchange at the office. “The colleagues meet up once a month in the evening for a get-together – and often those who spent the day in the home office join in too,” says the 38-year-old.
8:57 a.m.: Reviewing emails and chats
His first look goes to the Teams chat and his emails. As a Senior Analyst at quirion, the trained industrial engineer isn't only occupied with investment matters. As “Product Owner” for the quirion app, he directs the work of two app developers. The details and functionalities are constantly being refined together. That's why the chat window stays open all day long. “I always wanted to print it out at some point – several pages come together in the chat every day,” Hüwe estimates. Once the chat and emails have been reviewed, he first draws up a to-do list for the day.
9:32 a.m.: Testing the latest version of the app
The first item on his personal agenda this time is the test version for a new feature in the app. The developers have provided an updated version. It concerns the asset check function, on which details have been worked out. Via the asset check, any investor can have their portfolios examined and receive suggestions for improvement. This can now also be done through the app. Hüwe goes through the function once more and discusses with the developers what needs to be improved.
11:18 a.m.: Taking a look at Twitter
In between, Hüwe checks the news feeds. For work, he follows a number of asset managers and experts who take a quantitative approach to market analysis, that is, who statistically evaluate the relationships behind market movements. What about keeping an eye on stock indices like the DAX? “I rarely look at those, because short-term market movements play no role in our investment strategy,” Hüwe emphasizes. Hüwe wrote his doctoral thesis on a topic from the field of behavioral economics. This branch of science deals specifically with investor behavior. “I'm firmly convinced that, over the long term, it doesn't pay off to hunt for the right entry and exit points in the short term,” Hüwe thinks. “That's also well supported scientifically.”
11:34 a.m.: Looking at user feedback
Users' comments on the app's features come in through various channels: from the app stores, from the quirion customer forum, and via customer support. “The comments always give me important pointers on where we still need to improve something,” Hüwe notes. It's thanks to user requests, for example, that clients can now give their investment strategy an individual name. With titles like “My next car,” the purpose of the investment is always front of mind.
12:55 p.m.: Family time
When Hüwe is in the home office, he can have lunch together with his wife. Sometimes he takes an hour for it, sometimes just half an hour.
1:43 p.m.: Answering questions about the investment strategy
Customer support handles the bulk of client inquiries on its own. Sometimes, though, when it comes to specific details, Hüwe helps out with the answers. On this day, one case involves an investor who wants to know more precisely how their return was calculated. Another asks whether the ETFs in their portfolio are accumulating, that is, retaining dividends and reinvesting them straight away.
2:52 p.m.: Finding out why onboarding is getting stuck
A look at the numbers for onboarding in the quirion app. Hüwe notices that, while many clients are currently starting the registration process and want to open a portfolio, they aren't completing the procedure. The Product Owner sets out to find possible causes. A phone call clears things up: the provider for the video identification process is currently seeing a high volume of customers. It takes a while, then the backlog clears.
3:26 p.m.: Preparing for the next investment committee
The next meeting of the investment committee is coming up again soon. Every six weeks, this body exchanges views on, among other things, market developments and the performance of the portfolios. In this, Hüwe is an important link between quirion and Quirin Privatbank. In the group around Prof. Dr. Stefan May, Head of Investment Management, and Chief Economist Philipp Dobbert, the discussion revolves around questions like: Are there new ETFs that might fit the strategy even better? Can anything about the order process be improved? “The guiding principle is basically: look at everything, but don't touch anything rashly,” Hüwe explains. quirion pursues a steady-hand investment strategy. Even so, current developments are kept closely in view.
4:37 p.m.: Working on the performance reports
Once a month, clients receive the fact sheet with the analysis of their portfolio. The performance figures for the various strategies also need to be updated on the website. In addition, the information is made available to online media and platforms that report regularly on the performance of robo-advisors.
6:13 p.m.: Shutting down the laptop
Right now his daughter is nudging her father to come play. Dinner needs to be prepared. The workday is coming to an end. Later in the evening, Hüwe will take another look at the chat and his emails. This or that will then go onto the to-do list. It already includes an update on the topic of “costs and investing”: Hüwe wanted to work out how much quirion's clients have saved compared with investors who put their money into active funds. Up to the summer of 2021, it was around €26 million. By now it's likely to be several million more.
How costs affect your investment is explained by Anselm Hüwe here.
