Deborah Zurkow will retire as global head of investments at Allianz Global Investors, sparking a search for two executives to succeed her following a decision by the firm to split public and private markets investment responsibilities.
Zurkow will leave the firm at the end of September but will step back from executive responsibilities in the summer.
The firm has decided to separate investment responsibility for public and private markets in recognition of the growing maturity, scale and distinctiveness of the private markets business that Zurkow developed, a news release said.
Public markets assets under management totaled €466 billion ($520.2 billion) as of Sept. 30, accounting for about 83% of the firm's total €560 billion in AUM. The private markets business AUM was €94 billion as of that date, a spokesperson said.
Zurkow joined AllianzGI in 2012 to lead its infrastructure debt capability. She became the first head of private markets in 2016 and took on overall executive responsibility for investments in 2020.
“Deborah has been a hugely committed and engaged colleague and leader from the moment she joined AllianzGI through to this day,” CEO Tobias Pross said in the news release. “Her unrelenting curiosity and solutions mindset have been well deployed in the service of our clients and colleagues around the world. I will miss her input.”
AllianzGI will make announcements on succession plans “in the coming months,” the release added.
