Deborah Zurkow to head Alternatives group at Allianz Global Investors

Allianz Global Investors has recently announced that Deborah Zurkow, CIO and Head of Infrastructure Debt, is to take on a new, broader role, becoming head of the Alternatives pillar within its global investment platform. Deborah will join AllianzGI’s Global Executive Committee, effective 1 June 2016.

As Head of Alternatives, Deborah will lead the continued build out of AllianzGI’s Alternatives capability, which comprises a diverse mix of both liquid and illiquid alternative investment solutions for clients. Since the creation of AllianzGI’s Alternatives pillar in December 2014, assets under management have doubled, growing from EUR 7.9 billion (US$8.77 billion) in December 2014 to EUR 15.7 billion (US$17.44 billion) by the end of Q1 2016.

AllianzGI’s infrastructure debt platform, which Deborah has led since joining the firm in 2012, is a key component of AllianzGI’s Alternatives platform, having committed EUR 7 billion (US$7.77 billion) on behalf of clients into 25 infrastructure debt projects across 12 countries in the last 3 years. The Infrastructure Debt platform has now taken on an increasingly global outlook, completing four transactions in the United States in the last year.

Claus Fintzen will become CIO and Head of Infrastructure Debt, reporting to Deborah Zurkow, assuming day to day responsibility of AllianzGI’s Infrastructure Debt team with immediate effect. Claus joined AllianzGI in 2012 along with Deborah and three other team members from Trifinium Advisors. As well as being instrumental in helping develop AllianzGI’s infrastructure debt platform, Claus brings 21 years of industry experience to the role.

Alternatives is one of the four pillars of AllianzGI’s global investment platform, alongside Equities, Fixed Income and Multi-Asset. AllianzGI’s alternative investment strategies, some of which have track-records stretching back for a decade, include: Equity Long/Short, Merger Arbitrage, Options Trading, Commodities, Volatility, Global Macro, Absolute Return Bonds, Private Debt, Infrastructure Debt, and Infrastructure Equity.

Portfolio managers of AllianzGI’s alternatives strategies are based across the globe in New York, Hong Kong, London, Frankfurt, and Paris

Andreas Utermann, CEO and Global CIO at Allianz Global Investors, said:

“Over the last few years, Deborah and her team have helped turn the idea of infrastructure debt as an asset class for institutional investors into a reality. In her new, expanded role, Deborah will be able to put her experience of developing innovative solutions that meet clients’ needs to work across the entire spectrum of Alternatives, one of the fastest growing parts of our investment platform, increasingly attractive to investors looking for alpha in era of financial repression.”