Andreas Utermann was born in Brussels to German parents and attended the European School before moving to the UK to study at the London School of Economics, from which he graduated with a degree in Economics in 1989. He subsequently undertook a master's degree in Economics at the University of Leuven, having agreed to defer his entry into Warburg's graduate programme for a year in order to do so.
Career
Utermann joined Mercury Asset Management in 1989, becoming head of pan-European and subsequently global equities over the course of his 13 years there. He left Merrill Lynch Investment Managers in 2002. In 2002, Utermann joined Allianz to become its global CIO for equities. When Allianz's asset management division restructured in 2011, Utermann became Global CIO and co-head of Allianz Global Investors alongside Elizabeth Corley as CEO; in a 2012 media story headlined “Mercury keeps rising at AllianzGI”, the journalist noted that the co-head structure followed “the mixed gender trail blazed by Carol Galley and Stephen Zimmerman, former co-heads of Mercury Asset Management, where both Utermann and Corley honed their craft.” Utermann was sole CEO since 2016, when Corley moved into a non-executive role within the firm. During his time in charge of Allianz Global Investors, Utermann expanded its investment offering further into bonds and creating a dedicated Alternative investments function. Utermann retired as CEO of AllianzGI on 31 December 2019 and served as advisor to the firm until 30.6.2020. In January 2020, Utermann was made a fellow of the CFA Society of the UK in recognition of his exceptional service to the investment profession.
Active investing
As CEO and Global CIO of Allianz Global Investors, Utermann was vocal on the subject of active investing in the asset management industry. Despite leading an active manager, he has acknowledged perception challenges facing the industry in light of cheaper passive investing alternatives such as ETFs. Writing of Utermann in IPE magazine in 2018, journalist Carlo Svaluto Moreolo wrote: "It would be hard to find a more passionate supporter of active management. However, he starts with the candid admission that the asset management industry has a reputational problem." He has argued for greater transparency across the investment value chain. More recently, he has advocated the greater use of performance fees, introducing new products and share classes where the fund manager is only rewarded for the additional value created.
Sustainable investing
Since joining Allianz, Utermann has overseen the build-up of its sustainable investment offering. In September 2019, as part of the Michael Bloomberg's Climate Finance Leadership Initiative to help transition to a low-carbon economy, Utermann announced that Allianz Global Investors was launching an Impact Fund that will invest directly into such projects.
