This week, DWS Group, an asset manager with €833 billion ($866 billion) of assets under management, announced another change to its management team. 

Stefan Kreuzkamp is stepping down as head of the investment division after 24 years at the DWS Group, starting from the end of 2022.

The chief investment officer and the asset class officers will report to CEO Stefan Hoops in future, the firm said in a statement on Friday.
 
Kreuzkamp had agreed to the company's request to prematurely terminate his contract, which only runs until the beginning of 2024, to make room for the new management team, the firm continued. 

In September of this year, he made far-reaching changes to the management structure of the investment division and reorganised responsibility in this area. 

Björn Jesch has become the global chief investment officer for DWS, the firm said, while Fiona Bassett has taken over the newly-created systematic solutions and implementation platform. Vincenzo Vedda has become responsible for the active division, in which DWS has combined the active equity and fixed income (including cash) asset classes, the firm continued. 

Together, with the current management team of the investment division, they will report to Hoops in the future. Additionally, Vincenzo Vedda will take over Kreuzkamp's previous responsibilities on the management board of DWS Investment GmbH, the firm said.
 
Kreuzkamp worked for DWS for 24 years, initially as portfolio manager for money market funds and later as head of fixed income and money market fund business and chief investment officer Europe. In 2018, he took on the role of global CIO and head of the investment division.

"Stefan Kreuzkamp has played a decisive role in the success of DWS in recent years, especially since the IPO in 2018," Karl von Rohr, chairman of the supervisory board of DWS, said.  

"He has brought together DWS' outstanding expertise in all asset classes into a powerful investment division. Under his leadership as former chief investment officer, and while he was responsible for the investment division, DWS' portfolio managers have outperformed the competition many times, creating value for our clients. We thank him for his contribution, regret his departure, and wish him all the best and much success for his professional and private future," he continued.

"Stefan Kreuzkamp and I have known each other for more than 10 years. During this time, we have worked together intensively, and I have come to appreciate him as a colleague and partner. I am also very grateful to him personally for his commitment and sense of responsibility. He has created a strong leadership team in the investment division and ensured that DWS' investment expertise rests on several shoulders," Hoops said. “Together with our chief investment officer Björn Jesch, the team will continue to deliver independent, excellent portfolio management for our clients. In an environment where the ability to offer differentiated investment strategies is a key competitive advantage, we are providing more freedom to the specific asset classes to continue to deliver on our value proposition to our clients."