"Create promising situations, recognize them, and take advantage of them!"

Tatjana Götz is responsible for Loan Syndication at DekaBank. Previously, she worked as a portfolio manager in real estate and in structuring infrastructure financing. We speak with her about Loan Syndication and the importance of networking.

Tatjana, you work in Loan Syndication at Deka. What does your job specifically involve?
The main task of Loan Syndication is to find a group of multiple lenders for a particular financing. This enables participation in large-volume financings, sharing of risks, and benefiting from the expertise of consortium partners. My team reviews Deka's real estate and infrastructure financings for their attractiveness to institutional investors. We advise our long-standing investors and new business partners.

How can investors participate in these financings?
Investors can acquire shares in loans either directly or indirectly through loan funds and investment vehicles. Depending on the type of investor, the investment forms have practical and regulatory advantages.

What does a loan fund solution look like?
For loan funds, as with all other funds, we focus on targeted asset allocation to optimize risk-adjusted returns. The funds can have thematic focuses, such as financing real estate in metropolitan areas or financing the energy transition.

At Deka, you are heavily involved with blockchain and tokenization. Are your loan products already being tokenized?
Blockchain and digital assets will change the future of the financial industry, and we have been working on these topics extensively at Deka for several years. We issued our first crypto securities in 2021. By tokenizing loans for real estate and other tangible assets, we aim to make illiquid assets liquid and tradable. The transfer of tokenized assets will be significantly easier than today's assignment or transfer of loans. We are actively working on implementing the tokenization of illiquid assets.

How has your career progressed so far, and what has helped you along the way? Did you have mentors? Or do you have specific traits that have been particularly useful in advancing your career?
I believe it’s worth trying new things and taking personal risks. I switched from infrastructure financing to real estate fund management, even though I had little prior knowledge in this area. I caught up through on-the-job learning and further part-time studies. This wouldn’t have been possible without a great deal of trust in my abilities – for which I am very grateful to my mentors.

How did you find mentors? And what would you say: How much of their working time should career-conscious women spend on networking?
Excellent performance is important but not enough to find mentors. To do this, you need to network regularly within and outside your own company and maintain network contacts – even with contacts from higher hierarchies. I have always invested a lot of time in this, even in my free time, often attending lectures or after-work events.

In your current job, you also have team responsibility. What is particularly important to you in this role? And do you think women lead differently than men?
For me, modern leadership means motivating employees and creating a positive working atmosphere for them. The financial industry is heavily regulated, but we need innovative ideas, more tolerance for mistakes, and bold employees with initiative for the future. Women do not fundamentally lead differently, but I have found that they pay more attention to the environment. I think it would be great if more women took on leadership roles in the financial industry – unfortunately, I know few who aspire to this. We need to continue working to make these positions more attractive. Specifically, this means flatter hierarchies and more flexibility for mothers and fathers.

Previously, you were a portfolio manager in the real estate segment. What did you particularly enjoy about this job?
I loved working as a portfolio manager because you deal with an incredible number of issues and have to make important decisions. I traveled a lot to keep a very good understanding of the real estate portfolio.

Portfolio management is predominantly male-dominated – especially in the German-speaking world. Is this true for all asset classes?
Yes, unfortunately, portfolio management is still male-dominated across all asset classes. In alternatives, there are slightly more women in real estate than in infrastructure. We have a lot of catching up to do, especially in the German-speaking world.

Women’s networks are currently gaining momentum in Europe. You also have an internal network at Deka. What do you do there exactly?
At Deka, we have the opportunity to network, exchange ideas internally regularly, and share experiences. The network also offers the chance to look beyond Deka, for example, through lectures by external speakers. Generally, I am a supporter of professional networks, as women can share similar experiences and encourage each other. We should also learn from other industries and promote exchange with them even more.

You participated in the Fondsfrauen mentoring program. What benefits did you gain from it, and for which situations specifically?
When I applied for the Fondsfrauen mentoring program, I did not expect to be selected. Suddenly, I had an excellent mentor who accompanied me and asked questions like: “Where do you want to go? What is important to you in your job? What career goals do you have?” I would encourage everyone to exchange ideas with people outside their usual environment on such questions.

What guiding principle(s) would you like to share with our readers?
Often, you have your happiness in your own hands: by adopting and creating ways of thinking and behaving, recognize them, and take advantage of promising situations more than others do.

Thank you, Tatjana, for these great insights!