The Management Board

Management

Fast decisions, clear lines of responsibility. This section provides a quick overview of the individual areas of responsibility at executive level. It also lists all managing directors with their current CVs.

Three investment management companies – one centre of competence for real estate.

Within the Union Investment Group, the following companies comprise the centre of competence for real estate.

Union Investment Real Estate GmbH

Union Investment Real Estate GmbH is Germany’s largest investment management company for open-ended real estate funds. The company’s management of real estate funds for private investors laid the foundation for its comprehensive property expertise. Union Investment Real Estate GmbH handles real estate asset management for the entire Group.

Dr. Michael Bütter

Dr. Michael Bütter

Chairman of the Management Board (CEO)
 

Areas of responsibility

  • Coordination of the Management Board
  • Coordination of company bodies
  • Segment Management real estate strategy
  • Fund Management
    • UniImmo: Deutschland
    • UniImmo: Europa
    • UniImmo: Global
  • Fund Support
  • Real estate law
  • Real estate communications and marketing
  • Internal auditing
  • Human resources/ Works council
  • General Administration
  • Industry associations
  • Compliance
Dr. Christoph Holzmann

Dr. Christoph Holzmann

COO and Member of the Management Board
 

Areas of responsibility

  • Segment Management real estate operations
  • Tax Management
  • Participation Management
  • Data Management, Reporting & Systems
  • Risk Management
Martin J.Brühl

Martin J. Brühl

CIO and Member of the Management Board
 

Areas of responsibility

  • Investment Management
    • Europe
    • Asia/ Pacific
    • Americas
    • Retail
    • Hospitality
       
Volker Noack

Volker Noack

Head of Asset Management and Member of the Management Board

Areas of responsibility

  • Asset Management
  • Real Estate Project Management
  • Sustainability

Short profiles of Union Investment Real Estate GmbH management team members

Dr. Michael Bütter, CEO

Dr. Michael Bütter has been CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of Union Investment Real Estate GmbH since 1 October 2020. As head of the Real Estate segment, he is responsible for coordinating Union Investment’s entire global real estate business, excluding residential in the DACH region.

His remit covers amongst other segment management, real estate law, communications and marketing. He is also responsible for HR and internal auditing and for industry associations and coordination of the company’s Management Board and corporate bodies. Since January 2022, he is responsible for the management of the open-ended real estate funds UniImmo: Deutschland, UniImmo: Europa and UniImmo: Global such as the Fund Support.

Dr. Bütter is a fully qualified lawyer and business economist, having studied in Hamburg and Oxford. He has more than 20 years of experience in the real estate and private equity sector. During his career to date, Dr. Bütter has successfully held a number of management and supervisory board positions at various listed real estate companies including Vonovia SE, Scout24 AG, Immobilien Scout GmbH, TLG Immobilien AG, Adler Group S.A. and ADO Properties S.A. He began his career as a lawyer and was a partner at Hogan Lovells LLP.

Dr. Bütter is a member of the supervisory and advisory boards of multiple real estate and digital companies. He also sits on the german board of RICS and is a member of the executive committee of the German Property Federation (ZIA).

Dr. Christoph Holzmann, COO

Dr. Christoph Holzmann has been a member of the Management Board of Union Investment Real Estate GmbH since July 2020. As COO, he is responsible in particular for process optimisation, digital transformation and business management of the Real Estate segment.

He was previously Chief Financial Officer at Beos AG from 2016 to 2020, where his responsibilities included digitisation of processes and reporting on databases and business intelligence solutions. Prior to that, Christoph Holzmann held positions in finance, fund management, product development and real estate investment banking at a real estate asset manager, an investment management company and two banks.

Christoph Holzmann holds a business studies degree, an MSc in Real Estate and a doctorate. He is also a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Martin J. Brühl, CIO

Martin Brühl is a member of the Management Board of Union Investment Real Estate GmbH headquartered in Hamburg. In his role as Chief Investment Officer he is responsible for investment management across 25 national markets. His business unit is organised by world regions for office investments, supported by expert teams for the retail, residential, hotel and logistics sectors.

Equipped with a German banking diploma and a degree in real estate valuation and finance from City University Business School, London, Martin looks back on more than 30 years of real estate industry experience. Prior to joining Union Investment in 2013 he worked for DTZ, Arthur Andersen and Cushman & Wakefield. During his career, Martin has held a number of honorary positions including that of President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS, 2015–2016) and Chairman of the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE, 2019–2021).

Volker Noack

Volker Noack has been a member of the Management Board of Union Investment Real Estate GmbH since 2010. 
Volker Noack has a degree in business administration and joined Union Investment Real Estate in 1996, working initially in the research section. In 2002, he joined the real estate financial control and expert appraisals team, subsequently serving as head of this department. Volker Noack was then head of the fund management department for three years, where his remit included managing the company's largest retail fund.

In February 2012, he took over responsibility for Investment and Asset Management International (Europe, France, America and Asia / Pacific) as Managing Director. Since January 2013, he has been responsible for the asset management and real estate project management Division. In addition Volker Noack took over the responsibility for sustainability in the real estate sector in January 2022. 

Union Investment Institutional Property GmbH

Union Investment has been active in the institutional real estate sector since 1976. Union Investment Institutional Property GmbH, which is headquartered in Hamburg, focuses on real estate solutions (special funds, service mandates and pooling vehicles) for institutional Investors.

Wolfgang Kessler

Wolfgang Kessler

Member of the Management Board

Areas of responsibility

  • Institutional Fund Management for open-ended and closed-ended real estate funds – lending business
Karim Esch

Karim Esch

Member of the Management Board

Areas of responsibility

  • Institutional Fund Management for open-ended and closed-ended real estate funds – deposit business
  • Securities transactions as part of real estate bundling solutions
Dr. Christoph Holzmann

Dr. Christoph Holzmann

COO and Member of the Management Board

Areas of responsibility

  • Institutional Property Solutions
  • Fund Conception
  • Outsourcing Controlling
  • Insourcing / Advisory Mandates
  • Anti-money laundering and fraud prevention
  • Accounting of the GmbH and trade administration
     
Dr. Maximilian Brauers

Dr. Maximilian Brauers

Member of the Management Board

Areas of responsibility

  • Sales for german key accounts
  • Sales for international key accounts
  • Outsourcing Controlling for Union Investment Real Estate
  • Insourcing Advisory Mandates for Union Investment Real Estate

Short profiles of Union Investment Institutional Property GmbH management team members

Wolfgang Kessler

Wolfgang Kessler has been a member of the Management Board of Union Investment Institutional Property GmbH since 2002 and is responsible for fund management for institutional real estate Investors.

Prior to joining the senior management team, Kessler, who has a degree in business administration, was head of real estate controlling, portfolio management and research at the company. Wolfgang Kessler studied property economics at EBS and is a chartered surveyor (RICS – Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors). He previously held various positions in the real estate industry, focusing on property development, management and investment in the residential and commercial sectors.

Karim Esch

Karim Esch has been a member of the Management Board of Union Investment Institutional Property GmbH since 1 March 2021. He is responsible for the Institutional Fund Management for open-ended and closed-ended real estate funds in the deposit business. In addition Karim Esch is in charge of the securities transactions as a part of real estate bundling solutions. Before being appointed to the board, Karim Esch was a senior manager (Prokurist) at Union Investment Institutional Property GmbH for 10 years.

Prior to that, he worked at the Commerzbank Group from 1999 onwards, becoming Director of Institutional Sales at Commerz Real AG in 2004.

Karim Esch studied at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management in Germany and at Nottingham Trent University in the UK and holds a German diploma in banking administration, a bachelor’s degree in finance and management and an MSc in real estate.

Dr. Christoph Holzmann, COO

Dr. Christoph Holzmann has been a member of the Management Board of Union Investment Institutional Property GmbH since July 2020. As COO, he is responsible in particular for process optimisation, digital transformation and business management of the Real Estate segment.

He was previously Chief Financial Officer at Beos AG from 2016 to 2020, where his responsibilities included digitisation of processes and reporting on databases and business intelligence solutions. Prior to that, Christoph Holzmann held positions in finance, fund management, product development and real estate investment banking at a real estate asset manager, an investment management company and two banks.

Christoph Holzmann holds a business studies degree, an MSc in Real Estate and a doctorate. He is also a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Dr. Maximilian Brauers

Dr. Maximilian Brauers has been a Member of the Board of Managing Directors of Union Investment Institutional Property GmbH since July 2021. In this role he is in charge of real estate sales for German and international key accounts. In January 2022 he took over the responsibility for Outsourcing Controling and Insourcing Advisory Mandates for Union Investment Real Estate.

Previously, Maximilian worked at DWS from 2012, most recently as Head of Client Relations Real Estate Germany.

From 2009 until 2012, he was a lecturer and research assistant at the EBS Real Estate Management Institute and received several academic awards during this period.

Maximilian has a doctorate in economics, and built up his real estate expertise at Jones Lang Lasalle and UBS Real Estate KAG, among others.

Union Investment Real Estate Austria AG

Union Investment Real Estate Austria AG is headquartered in Vienna. Its main product, immofonds 1, is targeted at private investors in Austria. The company manages real estate investments across the Austrian and German markets on behalf of its Investors.

Petia Zeiringer

Petia Zeiringer

Member of the Management Board


 

Areas of responsibility

  • Fund Management
  • Asset Management
Jenni Wenkel

Jenni Wenkel

Member of the Management Board


 

Areas of responsibility

  • Investment Management
Stefan Süschetz

Stefan Süschetz

Member of the Management Board


 

Areas of responsibility

  • Risk Management
  • Compliance and anti-money laundering
  • Middle Office
  • Legal
  • Commercial fund management/ fund accounting

Short profiles of Union Investment Real Estate Austria AG management team members

Petia Zeiringer

Petia Zeiringer has been a member of the Management Board of Union Investment Real Estate Austria AG (formerly Immo Kapitalanlage AG) since 1 January 2021, with responsibility for fund management and asset management.

Petia Zeiringer has worked in the financial sector since 2001 and has been with the Union Investment Group since 2007, holding a number of positions. She served as a portfolio manager and head of multi-asset at Union Investment Austria GmbH until 2016 and was most recently head of risk management at Union Investment Real Estate Austria AG. Thanks to her long involvement in portfolio and risk management, Petia Zeiringer has broad knowledge and experience of the company’s business model, structure and products.

Alongside her work duties, Petia Zeiringer successfully qualified as a Certified Portfolio Manager (CPM) and a Certified Real Estate Investment Analyst (CREA®).

Jenni Wenkel

Jenni Wenkel has been a member of the Management Board of Union Investment Real Estate Austria AG (formerly Immo Kapitalanlage AG) since 1 September 2021, with responsibility for investment management.

Jenni Wenkel joined Union Investment from Erste Group Bank AG, where she has held various positions over 13 years. Most recently, as Head of Corporate Real Estate Asset Management she was responsible for strategic portfolio management, asset management and investment management in Austria and in Central and Eastern Europe for nearly nine years. From 2016 onwards, she was also project manager and client representative for the Rosewood Vienna hotel development.

Jenni Wenkel is a Certified Real Estate Investment Analyst (CREA®), qualified architect and real estate economist. She is also Chair of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in Austria.

Stefan Süschetz

Stefan Süschetz has been a member of the Management Board of Union Investment Real Estate Austria AG since 1 November 2021. As Chief Risk Officer and Chief Operating Officer, he is responsible for strategic and operational management of the business. His remit also includes risk management, middle office, legal, compliance and money laundering prevention as well as commercial fund management/accounting.

Stefan Süschetz has worked in the financial services sector since 2003. From 2013, he held various positions in asset management at ERSTE Group, most recently as Head of Risk Management Real Estate at Erste Asset Management and Head of Risk Management & Compliance at Erste Immobilien Kapitalanlagegesellschaft. Prior to that, Süschetz was employed at consultancy Ernst & Young, the Ergo Group and the Allianz Group.

Stefan Süschetz is a Certified Real Estate Investment Analyst (CREA®) and also holds a degree in business management.

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