Marc Momberg, Head of Portfolio Management at Apo Asset Management
21 OCT, 2020
By Constanza Ramos
Marc Momberg is our Fund Selector of the Month. Marc joined Apo Asset Management GmbH (apoAsset) in 2003 as a portfolio manager for equities and fund of funds. Today, he is Head of Portfolio Management and senior co-manager of the company’s fund of funds range, which includes actively managed mutual funds, institutional mandates as well as ETF based passive solutions. Prior to joining apoAsset, he worked in fund sales support for VGH Versicherungen. He started his career with Tecis Asset Management GmbH as a fund researcher and holds a degree in business economics & law from the University of Applied Sciences in Lueneburg. Marc Momberg also serves as a reserve officer in the Bundeswehr (German Army) in the rank of Captain, where he trains and commands a platoon of Leopard 2 main battle tanks.
What reasons led you to dedicate yourself to the financial sector? How did this change happen after serving in the army? Could you tell us some insights how can you combine both professions?
Since I inherited my first two shares (Volkswagen) when I was 10 in 1986 from my Grandfather I was fascinated by the fact that you can participate in the success of big companies and make money with it. So it was clear to me early on that I wanted to learn all about it. Since then books keep filling my shelfs - about equities, markets, trading, investing, real estate, and psychology, as your biggest enemy in succeeding is yourself.
Especially in that area investing and being in the army is not too far apart. You have to learn to overcome your limits, take risks and allocate your resources efficiently in order to achieve the best possible results with minimal losses. You have to constantly judge risks in a real time environment in which you will never have complete information.
What do you think leads to success in the business industry? Can you give some unique advice for people starting a career in asset management?
As a slogan of the US Army goes: Be all you can be! Never stop learning and keep on improving yourself. Don´t try to be successful, be of service, be a giver! Help others in reaching their goals and you will reach yours almost inevitably. There´s a great book by Adam Grant called “Give and take”. It´s a must read!
Another good advice comes from Admiral McRaven: “If you want to change the world, start off with making your bed!” It´s very powerful. Especially in a profession like asset management where your results (performance) are clearly visible every day and even the best will have many bad calls, it´s important to keep the right mindset. If you make your bed first thing in the morning, you´ve already successfully finished your first task. It feels good! Then you get into the office and markets collapse, clients are unhappy and you lost money. You have a bad day, but in the end you say ”but at least I´ve made my bed”… you sleep well and tomorrow will be better.
What is the greatest challenge as a fund selector? Could you highlight an event in your professional career?
The greatest challenge – as in any profession – is not to confuse luck and skill. So you have to keep questioning. Others, but also yourself constantly. The biggest challenge is, though, not to fall into the trap of hindsight bias. If you find a successful fund manager and you do your due diligence while she/he keeps outperforming it´s important not to try to take short cuts. You have to do your homework and then you might have to wait patiently in order to become fully invested in a pull-back, even though you wished you had jumped right in.
How has the Covid-19 crisis affected your day-to-day life and your relation with investors or clients?
We had started working in split teams, one week in the office and one week working from home, early on. One of the most important aspects in any such situation is to keep communication flowing. So, I do up to 50 calls a day with colleagues, fund managers, and also with investors in order to find out, how everybody copes with the situation and what can be done to keep things going. It´s much harder to lead with “hatches closed” as we say in the army.
What do you think will be the next disruptive elements in the asset management industry? Could you highlight any topic on which investors should focus for the long term?
Artificial Intelligence is certainly the one big thing, which is just getting started. It reminds me of the early days of the internet in the late nineties. Some people have gained experience in the field, but it´s currently impossible to imagine how disruptive it will be and how fast it will go. Also, picking the winners now won´t work. Investors should focus on resilient, yet flexible portfolio construction. Within our fund of funds we currently build our portfolios around four themes: Health Care, Technology, the environment and regional specialties, like European family business. But we don´t just buy into thematic funds, we interpret each topic holistically. So the environmental aspects could be covered by an equity fund, which invests in “water” stocks, but it could also be a Cat-Bond fund, which helps insurance companies to support people in dire situations after natural or environmental disasters.
What sustains your drive within the industry?
You have to learn new things daily. Every time I go into a meeting I have the goal to learn 3 new things I didn´t know before. Asset Management gives me plenty of opportunity to learn about many things, and especially about myself.
