Commerzbank Wealth Management

Thomas Schaufler leads the wealth management division as its head, reporting to CEO Bettina Orlopp. Investment strategy is executed by internal portfolio management teams across public and private markets, with discretionary mandates managed in-house. Clients with advisory relationships retain final decision authority over their allocations.

The unit benefits from Commerzbank's broader corporate banking relationships, which provide a proprietary funnel of investment opportunities — particularly in German real estate and private credit. Liquidity events among the bank's Mittelstand clients, such as business sales or recapitalizations, generate direct wealth management inflows and co-investment deal flow.

The group uses both fund-of-fund structures and direct co-investments to access private markets. Client portfolios may include allocations to third-party private equity and credit funds, as well as direct stakes in real estate and infrastructure assets. The mix depends on client size, risk tolerance, and relationship depth.

The bank's ESG screening framework excludes companies with significant revenue from thermal coal, controversial weapons, and severe environmental violations. Beyond these exclusions, the wealth unit does not publish a blanket list of prohibited sectors, instead evaluating each investment against client-specific mandates and the bank's sustainability policies.

Commerzbank's wealth clients participate in co-investments primarily through managed accounts and club deals, often alongside institutional investors familiar to the bank's corporate finance division. The unit does not publicly run a formal co-investor club, but it facilitates direct exposure to German real estate and infrastructure transactions sourced from internal deal flow.