“What drives me: new perspectives, new opportunities – all the time”.

A change of perspective is definitely a key concept for my career and is essential for my work and professional advancement in asset and fund management, both in terms of content and methodology. I started in Investment Management Europe over 20 years ago, after completing my studies and gaining my first professional experience at another company, and then, in 2016, I moved into the fund world as Group Head there, with seven employees. Specifically: I took over as head of fund management for Deka-ImmobilieEuropa – Deka Immobilien’s flagship fund – and thus undertook a major and, for me personally, courageous change of perspective. I had a very exciting, challenging, professionally, and personally successful and fulfilling time there, which was “crowned” in 2021 with the title of “Fund Manager of the Year” in recognition of the performance of my team and myself. And I’m not talking about “brilliance” here for my own sake, but about the fact that it is important to have a general visibility of women with management positions in the fund industry – because women belong here just as much as their male colleagues.

Nina Stapf, Head of Real Estate Management Specialists, joined Deka in 1997 as an investment manager in the European market division

ASSET MANAGEMENT: BACK AGAIN!

In 2024, after around eight years as a fund manager, I switched back to asset management. Together with my 25-person team, I manage and oversee the Specialists division, which includes Deka Immobilien’s hotel and retail portfolio. I have a personal soft spot for hotels, which I found fascinating as buildings and gatherings of people from a young age. I even considered studying hotel management at one point. The move “back” was a bit of a “homecoming” for me and the perfect opportunity to bring fund management perspectives into asset management, which is very helpful for my work. Because that’s an important part of my job: taking on the role of mediator, changing perspectives in order to create a better understanding on both sides. After all, it’s about achieving a common goal together – because we all work for the investor: one company, one team, one goal.

WHY ASSET MANAGEMENT FASCINATES ME:

We are involved when it comes to the purchase of properties and we are asked to assess the property as a kind of specialist authority. We value the property together, which involves a lot of dialogue and discussion with everyone involved in the process. And that’s just what I like: the substantive, sometimes contentious, discussions on all topics relating to real estate. These help us constructively find a good solution and strategy for the purchase together around the table. On the other hand, there is the pool of portfolio properties that needs to be managed. With these properties, the key areas of activity are lease negotiations, finding tenants with the help of external brokers, assessing the technical or structural condition of the properties or related architectural projects. And I find this “building” universe, where we as asset managers are very close to the building itself, exciting. I really enjoy working in this field, where you meet so many different people – tenants, consultants, managers – and also travelling across countries on property missions, where you experience the property in its own cultural context.

Speaking of fun, team leadership is also an important “asset” in my professional career and also part of my current day-to-day job, in which I lead group leaders myself and can of course grow from this myself. This means further development on various levels: management tasks, content-related tasks and – in recent years – also further developments at the personal and professional level with further training, coaching, or management programmes.

A CHANGE OF PERSPECTIVE BRINGS CHANGE:

Changes of perspective in professional life always generate dynamism – and this dynamism has always been the driving force for me. What do I mean by this? With each new position, activity and management responsibility, I have been able to take in a new perspective, which in turn has helped me to understand other business areas in a new way, to understand them better, and aroused deeper interest and curiosity. With my experience and expertise from my time in fund management, I can see the work of asset management with completely different eyes – and the same applies the other way round, of course. And, very importantly: Changing perspectives also opens up new paths and opportunities for professional advancement – those who bring their own strengths, vision, goals, and enjoy actively shaping things with the dynamism of changing perspectives can make a big difference here in the company, which offers an incredibly diverse environment. My day-to-day work at Deka Immobilien is very lively, dynamic, full of opportunities and promising – and I enjoy working in this way.