Half a Century of Expertise in Asset Management
Interview with Christian Janas, Head of Asset Management, Member of the Management Board of DJE Kapital AG
Anyone who possesses wealth wants to invest it safely and profitably. With more than half a century of experience, DJE Kapital AG presents itself as a competent asset manager. The family-run company from Pullach in Bavaria offers its clients individual strategies tailored precisely to their situation and risk tolerance. An investment volume of a total of 17 billion EUR and numerous independent awards demonstrate the company's high level of competence.
Wirtschaftsforum: Mr. Janas, what would you say to someone interested in investing, why their money is in the best hands with DJE Kapital AG?
Christian Janas: There are several reasons. Firstly, there is our more than 50-year expertise, which we have naturally continuously improved and expanded over time. We can also handle crises. We have currently proven this if you look at Corona and the war in Ukraine, where markets can also fall massively. That is actually our niche as active managers. If you buy passive ETFs today, you are buying the market. But you should also consider the fluctuations. During Corona, for example, the market lost 40% between January and March 2020. As active managers, we try to cushion the market from falling too deeply, so that our clients are not at minus 40% but perhaps only minus 20 to 25%. If you are at minus 40%, it actually takes quite a long time to get back up. Our vision is to offer clients the complete range of investment options: from funds starting at 1 EUR to 300 million EUR, which our largest individual client has invested with us.
Wirtschaftsforum: Who are your target groups?
Christian Janas: Our target audience consists of affluent private clients. Only in our online wealth management can you start with an investment from as low as 10,000 EUR. In individual wealth management, we start from 500,000 EUR and from this amount, we can also tailor individual portfolios for our clients. Our clients include not only private individuals but also family offices. Some wealth managers outsource a portion of the investment to external managers. They are also our target group. Additionally, we look after foundations for which we have developed special concepts, as they need distributions for projects. Moreover, we traditionally also serve companies or institutional clients, such as pension funds.
Wirtschaftsforum: Please explain your investment strategies in more detail.
Christian Janas: We invest in stocks, bonds, and currencies; we deal with commodities and cash. We do not participate in companies. We consider this in our investment strategy, but we do not recommend it. We also do not invest in private equity structures or certificates. We are purely investment-oriented towards liquidity. The assets we invest in are available to the client within a few days if needed.
Wirtschaftsforum: When was DJE Kapital AG founded and how has the company developed?
Christian Janas: Dr. Jens Ehrhardt founded his company in 1974. He started by publishing a stock market newsletter, which is still issued biweekly as ‘Finanzwoche’. As more and more readers of this newsletter wanted to use Dr. Jens Ehrhardt's expertise to manage their own assets, the company moved into asset management. A milestone was in 1987 with the launch of the first proprietary asset management fund, the FMM-Fonds. This was followed in 1994 by the fund DWS Concept DJE Global Stocks, and in 2003 by DJE – Dividend & Substance. That same year, our capital management company DJE Investment S.A. was launched in Luxembourg. Also in 2003, the founder's son, Dr. Jan Ehrhardt, who had previously worked as an analyst in New York, joined the company. Another important step was the digitalization of the investment process in 2012, including a database of indicators.
Wirtschaftsforum: What is the current situation?
Christian Janas: Currently, we offer 25 different funds and manage around 17 billion EUR for our clients. To comprehensively evaluate potential investments, our in-house research team conducts on average about 500 discussions per year with company executives. Our team consists of nearly 200 employees. DJE is 100% owned by the Ehrhardt family. The chairman of the board of the corporation is the company founder Dr. Jens Ehrhardt, his son Dr. Jan Ehrhardt is his deputy. Other board members include Thorsten Schrieber and Peter Schmitz. In addition to our headquarters in Pullach, we have other offices in Frankfurt and Cologne. We also have subsidiaries in Luxembourg and Zurich, as well as fund distributors in Austria, Italy, and Spain. These locations also reflect our geographic service area, namely the DACH region and Luxembourg. We have received numerous awards. Just recently, Dr. Jan Ehrhardt was chosen as Fund Manager of the Year 2025 by trade magazines.
Wirtschaftsforum: What are your plans for the coming years?
Christian Janas: We plan to engage more intensively in the B2C segment – that is, in direct customer business. Additionally, the use of AI to strengthen customer loyalty is a topic for us.