Petra Ahrens founded MAIESTAS Vermögensmanagement AG in 2016. She is also the first female board member of the Verband unabhängiger Vermögensverwalter Deutschland e.V. (VuV). Furthermore, in October 2021, she additionally founded CAPA AG FinanzWeitBlick, a holistic financial advisory service by women for women. In her guest article, Petra Ahrens writes how she manages to provide good advice even to women with investment amounts of €15,000, who fall through the cracks in many bank offers.
I have always wondered who judges how "wealth" is defined. Officially, Wikipedia defines wealth as the value of all tangible and intangible assets owned by a person. According to this definition, the 50-year-old teacher who lives in a rented house, makes ends meet every month and yet has saved up 40,000 euros is wealthy.
So it should normally be easy for them to get good and individual advice or active and personal portfolio management. But no!
Not everyone has access to individual financial advice
In an age of zero interest rates, punitive interest rates and high inflation, it is precisely those who are having to deal with the capital markets for the first time in their lives who are being left behind: German savers, whose assets are too small to be noticed by banks and some asset management companies, but which are also too large to clearly lose value in their bank accounts or savings books. After all, we are talking about financial assets of around 7.6 trillion euros held by private households in Germany!
ETFs are not always the solution
Of course, these people can open a custody account, opt for ETFs, which are often sold as the egg-sucking lizard, and/or follow the classic buy-and-hold strategy of an investment advisor. However, anyone familiar with the financial markets knows that fluctuations are part of the game and that these ultimately offer opportunities to generate returns. For this, one should follow the markets regularly, understand the correlations and flexibly and actively implement strategies and adapt them to changes. Few of us have the time and the know-how to do this, so we cannot implement our own ETF strategy completely unaccompanied.
Ever since MAIESTAS Vermögensmanagement AG was founded, I have focused on providing access to active asset management for smaller assets as well. There are various strategies to choose from, from ETF/fund strategies to single stock investments. Ultimately, the client decides what fits into his/her own investment profile. And I say: it works! For us, it's a viable business model, and customers get what they're looking for.
In der CAPA AG FinanzWeitBlick, die ich im Oktober 2021 gegründet habe, findet die gesamtheitliche Finanzberatung und -begleitung von Frauen für Frauen (und mutige Männer) statt. Hier verfolgen wir das gesamte finanzielle Konstrukt unter Berücksichtigung von Geldanlage, Risikomanagement, Immobilien, Finanzierung etc. um MandantInnen gleichberechtigt und unabhängig aufzustellen.
With digital structures, it becomes a business model
In order to implement individual asset management and treat all customers equally, regardless of whether they invest EUR 15,000 or EUR 500,000, we have created digital structures. In the background, machinery is running that takes care of the account/deposit opening for us via a digital online channel. What was previously discussed with customers in a face-to-face meeting is now entered by interested parties into software that queries return expectations, risk tolerance, and knowledge and experience. At the end of this route, the customer can legitimize himself by cell phone, specify the desired amount, which is collected by direct debit, and decide on the appropriate investment strategy. This process takes about 15 minutes and it is not stressful for the customers
Then we become active in the truest sense of the word! The strategy chosen by the client is implemented in our company by a portfolio management team. The portfolio managers use fundamental analysis, which examines funds and stocks on a daily basis, screening the companies. Later, the pre-selected stocks are deemed worth buying or not by an investment committee.
In 1st place, real capital preservation
The goal of our investment is first and foremost to preserve the money entrusted to us after inflation. Only then do we focus on seeking opportunities and chances on the capital market that offer an appropriate risk-reward ratio.
The fact that we are masters of long-term investment success is demonstrated by the awards we have received from the business magazine Capital, among others, which has just awarded us the top rating of 5 stars as one of Germany's TOP asset managers.
One thing must be clear to everyone: If you want to gamble, you are in the wrong place. The fundamental analysis of companies seems rather lazy and serves a solid and long-term asset accumulation. For us, quality takes precedence over quantity, and our goal is not to shift investments as often as possible just to show activity.
Female customers want transparency. We offer this - digitally
We always take our customers closely along on this long-term return journey. Thanks to a well-maintained infrastructure developed over many years, customers are informed immediately (usually daily) about all steps, changes and adjustments. Our customer relationship management system (CRM) is linked to the custodian bank, and customers are informed about purchases and sales in their portfolio through so-called marketing lists, depending on the strategy. Here, we not only mention the name and weighting of the respective security, but also give reasons why we are buying or selling something. Clients can always understand what is happening and why, which creates trust in our work.
At the end of the day, our benchmark is not the DAX or the Nasdaq. It is the customers themselves, whom we want to accompany and satisfy in the long term. That is our most important benchmark.
About the author:
Petra Ahrens founded MAIESTAS Vermögensmanagement AG in 2016, which has tripled the volume under management in the past 12 months. In October 2021, she additionally founded CAPA AG FinanzWeitBlick, a holistic financial advisory service by women for women.
She is the first board member of the Verband unabhängiger Vermögensverwalter Deutschland e.V. (VuV), advisory board member of KFM Deutsche Mittelstand AG and deputy chairman of the supervisory board of THE FUND MAKER.
Under this author name you will find guest contributions from various people that we publish on their behalf.