Axel Wieandt

Axel Wieandt
Born	(1966-09-19) September 19, 1966 Germany
Occupation(s)	Banking executive, professor
Years active	1993–present
Known for	CEO of Hypo Real Estate, CEO of Valovis Bank, honorary professor at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management

Axel Wieandt (born 19 September 1966) is a German executive with extensive experience in banking and finance. Since 2005, he has held the position of honorary professor at the WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management.

Early life and education

Axel Wieandt is the son of Paul Wieandt, who previously served as CEO of multiple German banks. He is married and has two children.

His academic journey began in 1986 at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, where he earned a degree in Business administration ("Diplom Kaufmann"). From 1988 to 1990, he was supported by a scholarship from the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes. In 1992, he completed an MBA at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, funded by a DAAD scholarship. The following year, he obtained his doctorate in Business Administration (Dr. rer. pol.) at WHU under the supervision of Horst Albach.

Career

Wieandt began his professional career in 1993 with McKinsey & Company, working in both Düsseldorf and Boston offices. Between 1997 and 1998, he was employed by Morgan Stanley in London, focusing on Mergers & Acquisitions as well as Restructuring.

Deutsche Bank

Joining Deutsche Bank in 1998, Wieandt quickly advanced to become the youngest divisional head within the Corporate Center by 2000. As Head of Corporate Development, he was responsible for steering the bank’s Group strategy and overseeing strategic transactions. Starting in 2003, he took on the role of Global Head of Corporate Investments, managing an investment portfolio valued at several billion euros with full profit and loss accountability.

Hypo Real Estate

In October 2008, amidst severe financial distress caused by the crisis, former German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück announced a complete overhaul of Hypo Real Estate’s board. A consortium nominated Axel Wieandt to serve as CEO, and he was subsequently appointed CEO and Chairman of HRE’s Management Board. On March 25, 2010, Wieandt resigned following disagreements with the Financial Market Stabilisation Fund (SoFFin), HRE’s government shareholder, regarding management approaches.

Wieandt advocated for increased operational autonomy and insisted on maintaining the bank’s core capital ratio above ten percent. Conversely, SoFFin’s CEO Hannes Rehm favored a lower capital threshold to ensure a cautious use of taxpayer funds. The German business publication Manager Magazin recognized Wieandt’s pivotal role in stabilizing and restructuring HRE. Meanwhile, journalists from Die Welt highlighted his effective leadership but also pointed out frustrations related to sluggish decision-making processes and limited flexibility in employee remuneration.

Return to Deutsche Bank

On June 1, 2010, Wieandt rejoined Deutsche Bank as Managing Director within the Corporate Center, tasked with overseeing Integration Management. Later that year, an unexpected objection from a BaFin official impeded his appointment as CEO of BHF Bank, prompting Deutsche Bank to withhold an official nomination—a move interpreted by some as a "retaliation." Despite this setback, his professional expertise remained well-regarded within banking circles, and he was considered for a board role at Deutsche Bank. BaFin president Jochen Sanio confirmed that there were "no banking supervisory legal reasons" preventing his CEO appointment.

Credit Suisse

On July 1, 2011, Wieandt assumed the role of Managing Director within the Investment Banking Division at Credit Suisse Deutschland, overseeing financial services clients from Germany, Austria, Sweden, and Norway. He departed from this position in June 2012.

Valovis Bank

On October 26, 2012, Wieandt was named CEO and Chairman of Valovis Bank, previously known as Karstadt-Quelle Bank, a German institution focused on credit card services, real estate financing, and factoring. After substantial losses related to Greek government bonds in December 2011, Valovis required intervention by the Association of German Banks. Characterized as a "challenging case," Wieandt committed to thoroughly reassessing the bank’s business strategy and executing steps to restore stability. He stepped down from the board on June 30, 2015.

Past consulting roles and board positions

Between December 2003 and June 2010, Wieandt held a Supervisory Board seat at Dutch credit insurer Atradius. From February 2011 through April 2017, he acted as an advisor for Aquila Capital.

Starting in April 2017, Wieandt provided consulting services to Corestate Capital with an emphasis on post-merger integration and investment repositioning efforts; these contributions supported Corestate’s purchase of the German leasing company Hannover Leasing Group. He chaired Hannover Leasing Group’s Supervisory Board from July 2017 until January 2022.

Present consulting engagements and board memberships

Since July 2016, Wieandt has been a member of the Advisory Board at fintech firm Debitos, assisting its expansion across Europe. He has offered consultancy to Exporo AG since October 2018 and to HPE Growth since September 2020. Furthermore, Wieandt holds the position of Operating Partner at Corsair Capital and serves as Senior Advisor for both Jefferies Group and Orphalan S.A. His advisory work extends internationally to venture capital and private equity funds as well as financial service providers.

In early 2021, German fintech Auxmoney announced Wieandt's inclusion on its Strategic Advisory Council; he has also been an independent Board Member there since 2012.

Additionally, Wieandt functions as Managing Director of Atlantic BidCo GmbH based in Frankfurt.

Academic appointments

From 2002 to 2005, Wieandt lectured at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management and has held an honorary professorship in financial intermediation there since 2005, instructing courses in business administration and bank management. He also teaches bank management at Goethe Business School in Frankfurt am Main. In early 2016, he delivered a course titled "European Banking and the Financial Crisis" at Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Illinois. Moreover, he regularly lectures on Entrepreneurial Finance at the Technical University of Munich.

Additional roles

Since 2009, Wieandt has been a member of the Board of Trustees for the Cathedral of Speyer and joined its Foundation Council in 2023. He has led the Advisory Board of the Association of Institutional Investors since 2021 and chairs the Advisory Board of the Association of German Credit Market Standards e.V. (DKS).

Books

• Gedichte (1986). Deutscher Lyrik Verlag, Aachen 2013,
• Unfinished Business: Putting European Banks (and Europe) Back on Track, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2017,

Publications

• (1993). "Die Entstehung von Märkten durch Innovationen". Wissenschaftliche Hochschule für Unternehmensführung.
• (1993). "Contestable Markets – ein Leitbild für die Wettbewerbspolitik?" (zusammen mit Harald Wiese). ORDO. 44: 185–202.
• (1994). "Versunkene Kosten und strategische Unternehmensführung". Journal of Business Economics. 64 (8): 99–116.
• (1994). "Innovation und die Entstehung, Entwicklung und Zerstörung von Märkten in der weltweiten Werkzeugmaschinenindustrie". Small Business Economics. 6: 421–437.
• (1994). "Biotechnologie: Das neue Schlachtfeld für US-amerikanische und japanische Pharmaunternehmen" (mit Naseem Amin). Technology Analysis & Strategic Management. 6 (4): 423–435.
• "Wechselwirkungen zwischen Kapitalmarkt und Strategie am Beispiel der Deutschen Bank". In Hungenberg, H; Meffert, J. (2005): Handbuch Strategisches Management.
• "Deutsche Bank: Auf profitables Wachstum ausgerichtet" (mit Michael Bachschuster). In Raisch, S; Probst, G; Gomez, P. (April 2007): Wege zum Wachstum - Wie nachhaltiger Unternehmenserfolg gelingt: 218–233.
• "Neuausrichtung der Deutschland AG" (zusammen mit Anna Magdalena Haslinger). In Glaum, M; Hommel, U; Thomaschewski, D. (November 2007): Internationalisierung und Unternehmenserfolg: 339–359.
• (2008). "Klimawandel als Herausforderung – Perspektiven aus dem Finanzmarkt" (mit Thorsten Peppler). Die Bank: 12–17.
• (Oktober 2009). "Deutsche Pfandbriefbank als Immobilien- und Staatsfinanzierer". Immobilien & Finanzierung: 658–660.
• (2011). "Too Big to Fail? – Lehren aus der Finanzkrise" (mit Sebastian Mönninghoff). Revue d'économie financière.
• (August 2011). "Finanzkrise: Beobachtungen und Konsequenzen – Die Fallstudie HRE" (mit Sebastian C. Mönninghoff). Schmalenbachs Zeitschrift für betriebswirtschaftliche Forschung. 63: 508–530.
• (4. Juli 2013). "Effektive Bail-in-Regulierung für Finanzsysteme erforderlich". Börsen-Zeitung.
• (2013). "Die Zukunft der Peer-to-Peer-Finanzierung". Schmalenbachs Zeitschrift für betriebswirtschaftliche Forschung. 65: 455–487.
• (26. November 2013). "Rettung untersagt". Handelsblatt, Nr. 228: 23.
• (24. Juli 2014). "Staatliche Bankenrettungen müssen verboten werden". Börsen-Zeitung, Nr. 139: 3.
• (März 2015). "Strategische Herausforderungen europäischer Banken". Die Bank: 28–32.
• (2017). "Non-Performing Loans – eine wesentliche Herausforderung für europäische Banken". Zeitschrift für das gesamte Kreditwesen, 70: 36–39.
• (11. September 2018). "Die Währungsunion ist noch nicht vollendet". Börsen-Zeitung, Nr. 174: 2.
• (27. März 2020). "Ein digitaler Euro für eine digitale Welt". Börsen-Zeitung, Nr. 6: 8.
• (4. Dezember 2020). "Kryptowährungen und ihre Auswirkungen auf europäische Banken". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Nr. 283: 29.
• (23. April 2021). "Es ist Zeit, dass Zentralbanken eigene digitale Währungen herausgeben – auch die Fed". Kellogg Insight.
• (17. Juni 2021). "Können dezentrale Blockchain-Protokolle Banken ersetzen?". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Nr. 137: 27.
• (28. März 2022). "Zentralisierte und dezentralisierte Finanzsysteme: Koexistenz oder Konvergenz?" (mit Laurenz Heppding). SSRN.
• (16. Mai 2022). "Ökonomische Aspekte der Bankenregulierung in Europa: Eliminieren die Bail-in-Regeln nach der Finanzkrise implizite Staatsgarantien effektiv?" (mit Sascha Hahn, Paul P. Momtaz). The European Journal of Finance, 29(7):700–725.