For Philipp Dobbert, our Chief Economist and Deputy Head of Asset Management, scientifically grounded investing is not just lip service. What drives him, and why, as a boss, he doesn't know everything better than his colleagues.
Getting excited about exchange rates as a child is actually somewhat unusual. Yet converting currencies captivated Philipp Dobbert early on. "When I went on vacation to Spain with my parents, the first thing I always did was check how the peseta stood against the German mark." Then he would work out what the ice cream or the cola would cost this time. "I found the exchange-rate movements and the conversion really exciting."
The thing with the pesetas was a kind of formative experience for him. Another was reading Disney comics. But what interested Dobbert about the character of Scrooge McDuck was less the recurring image of him bathing in his money vault. "What fascinated me was that he could spend all day dealing with the subject of money." It's hardly surprising, then, that Dobbert later went on to study economics – and focused on monetary economics as well as international economics, which deals in particular with currencies and exchange rates.
The path to Chief Economist
After his studies, he first started as a researcher at the consulting firm Boston Consulting Group. "Even back then, we took notice when Karl Matthäus Schmidt founded Quirin Privatbank as Germany's first fee-based advisory bank. We knew something very exciting was taking shape there." Dobbert recalls this in 2011, by then an economist in the economics department of the German Insurance Association (GDV), when he sees a Quirin job posting for a Senior Economist. And he seizes the opportunity for a professional reorientation, rising to Chief Economist in 2014.
Today, the Berlin native is also Deputy Head of Asset Management and Investment Management, both at Quirin Privatbank and at quirion. He leads a team of nine colleagues. They take care of, among other things, product selection, securities purchasing, and the settlement of securities transactions. Vast amounts of information and data have to be analyzed or processed in the shortest possible time. "Asset management has an enormous number of facets. It depends very much on detailed knowledge and meticulous work."
Asset management as a team effort
The 42-year-old sees his role within the team primarily as organizing asset management so that his colleagues can conscientiously take care of their areas of expertise. "The rumor that a boss can do everything better has never really been true," Dobbert says. "These days it's even less true, the degree of specialization is very high." What's important to him is to stand by his colleagues as a sparring partner on tricky questions. "If you're not so deep into every detail, you bring a different perspective and can help solve problems."
Calculating with money on the one hand, explaining money on the other: another of Dobbert's tasks is to inform clients about the background of what's happening in the economy and on the markets – at Quirin Privatbank events or also at quirion LIVE. In the online consultation session, the Chief Economist, together with CEO Martin Daut, devotes himself once a month to a current key topic and answers questions from viewers.
In his public relations work, he takes Norbert Walter, the former Chief Economist of Deutsche Bank, as his role model. Why did he impress him so much? "He was able to explain even the most complex matters in a way anyone could understand, without becoming imprecise or superficial." That's what Dobbert wants too, because he wants to pass on some of his own passion for economics. "When I answer a question and the person across from me then has an 'aha' moment, I see that as a personal success."
No storytelling
When the economist talks about quirion's science-based investment strategy and its forecast-free approach, it's not just lip service. "At first I resisted a bit, because an economist – he actually makes forecasts," he admits looking back. However, he says, an "uneasy feeling" had often crept over him in the past whenever he produced forecasts. "Even when you've done everything right technically, things can still always turn out completely differently."
Dobbert naturally still has an opinion on economic developments. "But when it comes to investing, speculation about the future plays no role for us." He finds this approach thoroughly honest, and he feels a certain relief in not having to tell investors anything else. "I am 100% at peace with myself about what I tell clients."
Finding validation
What does he particularly enjoy about his job? "The contact with people," Dobbert says. "In our day-to-day, our work is often so abstract." Learning how the team's work solves very concrete investment problems is deeply satisfying, he says. He and the whole team were also recently thrilled by the result of a major comparison of 25 digital asset management providers by Stiftung Warentest. In the assessment for a sample portfolio of €40,000, quirion once again took the win and defended its title. "In the daily routine, you pay a lot of attention to what could still be improved and less to what's going well," Dobbert says. "When such a renowned institution as Stiftung Warentest then says you're the best in a challenging field of competition, that's a great validation."
More about the test win at Stiftung Warentest can be found here.
