Raising the Barr at Deutsche Asset

Dean Barr is a man on a global mission.

By David Schutt
December 2000
Institutional Investor Magazine

The former head of Deutsche Asset Management's U.S. investment operations was recently named the firm,s inaugural global chief investment officer, with responsibility for $650 billion in assets. Like a number of large money managers, Deutsche plans to change its structure so that investment managers will view securities by industry and asset class rather than by region. Not surprisingly, Barr's first decision was to scrap all regional titles. Karl Sternberg, for example, formerly CIO for Europe, becomes head of global equities; and Axel-Günter Benkner, who ran fixed income at DWS Investment, the firm's German mutual fund subsidiary, will oversee global fixed income. "The task of each is to rationalize the investment processes to better leverage the capabilities of the firm," says Barr.
Though best known as a quant (he was formerly head of active quantitative strategies at State Street Global Advisors), the 40-year-old Barr says he will not interfere with active stock selection. "We have excellent fundamental research, which is the basis for investment outperformance," he says. Quantitative techniques, however, will play an increasing role in portfolio construction.