The European private bank, which was founded in 1590, will implement a new leadership structure in 2017.

Hamburg-headquartered Berenberg will overhaul its private banking business with an enhanced focus on clients with at least €1 million ($1.1 million) in assets as part of a wider restructure. 

Berenberg’s new German wealth management unit, previously known as private banking, will focus more on this particular client group and further expand its discretionary asset management service in light of tighter requirements on securities consulting in accordance with MiFID II, the bank said in a statement.

Its private banking branches in Bremen, Braunschweig and Düsseldorf will become consulting teams, with clients served either by a reduced number of consultants in the region or centrally from Hamburg. Meanwhile, the branches in Bielefeld and Munster will be merged in Munster.

“The CBU Wealth Management is of strategic importance to us, and we will, despite the structural adjustments required due to MiFId II, further expand it and, for this purpose, we will also continue to invest in quality and know-how,” said Hans-Walter Peters, a spokesperson for the managing partners. 

“The wealth management branches in Hamburg, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich will be continued and remain unchanged.”

As of 1 January 2017, Henning Gebhardt, Christian Kühn and David Mortlock will become members of Berenberg’s extended management board, taking charge of the newly-created business units.

Gebhardt, joining from Deutsche Asset Management, will lead the wealth and asset management unit. A German investment strategist, he has spent most of his career working for DWS or Deutsche Bank Group, for which he looked after assets of more than €100 billion. He will report to co-heads of wealth management, Germany, Dirk Wehmhöner and Oliver Holtz. Head of asset management Tindaro Siragusano will report to him to drive growth in the area of quantitative concepts and overlay management.

Kühn, who has been with Berenberg since 1997, will be in charge of the bank management unit, which will include risk controlling, IT and transaction services.

Mortlock has been appointed to the helm of the investment and corporate banking unit. He was previously the bank’s global head of equities and head of the London branch, which has around 300 employees. He joined Berenberg in 2010. Tobias Bittrich, who as head of corporate banking has developed the unit, will report to him.

“With this leadership structure, we want to head into the future and to further expand our business in all four units,” said Peters. 

The heads of business units will report as managing directors to Peters and to managing partner Hendrik Riehmer.