Katharina Kober is an advisor at quirion. She is passionate about bringing people closer to the positive effects of investing and building wealth.
Closeness to clients is something many advisors like to hold up as a banner. For Katharina Kober, it has been a given since childhood. Her parents owned an insurance agency. At first it was housed in the basement of their own home. They maintained a personal relationship with their clients and knew them well. "At our place, the doorbell would sometimes ring on weekends too, whenever something had to be sorted out on short notice," recalls the 39-year-old. "Even as a child I was right in the thick of it, and I always experienced it as very positive."
Toward the end of her school years, she didn't have to think long about which career path to take. "Advising clients on all things finance: that's what I wanted to do too - I didn't really give much thought to alternatives anymore." She opted for a dual-track degree in business administration at a large insurance group. She then worked for seven years in the "sales" division for that insurer, followed by almost five years as an investment advisor at a large bank.
A completely different kind of advice
She still remembers well the moment in 2006 when she learned of the founding of Quirin Privatbank. "The first independent fee-based advisory bank: back then, an outcry went through the industry. I found the approach interesting right away." Direct contact, though, only came much later and rather by chance. After the birth of her son, she happened to be working again in client services at the insurer where she had done her training. Her branch manager today was her client back then. When she spotted the Quirin logo in the contact details of his email, her ears pricked up and she brought it up with him. They arranged to meet for coffee and quickly came to an agreement. Since August 2020 she has now been a wealth advisor for clients of Quirin Privatbank and of quirion at the Darmstadt branch.
"The work here is completely different from what I knew before from financial advice," Kober observes. "Here, for example, no one pressures me to push prospective clients into closing a deal - ideally on the very day of the first meeting." That pressure had often given her an uneasy feeling in the past. "Now I can really take the time that's needed to respond to each person's particular needs." As a result, the conversation is far more relaxed for both sides. First you get to know each other. You exchange ideas and build mutual trust. And no vested interest gets in the way, because unlike the usual practice, product commissions play no role at Quirin Privatbank and at quirion. "So when I talk about independent advice, that's meant completely honestly and in earnest."
Putting developments into context, easing fears
That the conversations with clients are different from those at her previous posts is down to conditions like these as well as to quirion's distinctive investment strategy: an especially broad diversification in global ETF portfolios that deliberately does not rely on forecasts. "No one knows the future, and I don't have to pretend otherwise here," Kober emphasizes. "But of course I'm happy to put current developments into context for clients."
This year, that was needed a bit more often than usual. High inflation, turbulence in stocks and bonds - these developments have weighed on many investors. The advisor understands the uncertainty. She knows the emotional waves that swings in the markets bring with them. "I engage with the emotional sides of investing rather than simply playing them down."
At the same time, showing people the benefits of investing and building wealth is a personal concern for Kober. This shows not only during working hours, but sometimes also in conversations among acquaintances and friends. She especially wants to encourage women to overcome their reservations about these topics.
On the differences between women and men when it comes to investing, Quirin Privatbank has just published a major study. According to it, women invest far less often and trust themselves less than men do. "The findings unfortunately match my own experience," Kober laments. Engaging with investing, she says, is something very positive. "You're doing something for yourself."
As an advisor, she also sees it as her job to help people overcome inner hurdles. "Someone with a legal problem goes to a lawyer and would hardly get the idea of going off to study law themselves." That same option exists with investing. "Anyone looking for support can simply bring us on board. At quirion, you can conveniently book the advisory services in the service packages, and switch between them too."
