Asoka Woehrmann has resigned as CEO at German asset management firm DWS Group hours after police raided its Frankfurt office over greenwashing allegations.
Woehrmann will step down after the annual general meeting on June 9.
The firm has hired Stefan Hoops, former head of the corporate bank at DWS’s majority owner Deutsche Bank, to fill the role. Hoops will also become the company’s manging director.
In a statement, Woehrmann said, “I have always dedicated my entire energy to the benefit of DWS; most notably since returning as CEO in October 2018.
“Today, after the three most successful years in its history, DWS is significantly more profitable, is stable and has continued to perform well in a difficult market environment.
“At the same time, the allegations made against DWS and myself in past months have become a burden for the company, as well as for my family and me. In order to protect the institution and those closest to me, I would like to clear the way for a fresh start.”
50 police raided the offices of DWS and Deutsche Bank in downtown Frankfurt on the previous day of the announcement, involving public prosecutors, federal police and officers from the German financial regulator BaFin.
Former DWS executive Desiree Fixler had made allegations that the company made misleading statements in its 2020 annual report over claims that more than half of the group’s $900bn assets were invested using environmental, social and governance criteria.
Hoops joined Deutsche Bank in fixed income sales in 2003. He moved to credit trading in New York in 2008, and took on various leadership roles within global markets in the United States and Germany.
DWS Group beat its hard cap for its inaugural mid-life secondaries private equity fund to reach a $550m final close last year.
Copyright © 2022 AltAssets
