Jochen Wermuth

Jochen Wermuth was born in Boston, Massachusetts, where his parents Dr. Dieter Wermuth and Professor Dr. Nanny Ellen Wermuth were studying on Fulbright scholarships at Tufts and Harvard University, respectively.{{Cite web |title=Finparty |url=http://finparty.ru/section/interview/record/1019/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20120620004624/http://finparty.ru:80/section/interview/record/1019 |archive-date=2012-06-20 |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=finparty.ru}}

He is the eldest of their four sons, Martin (1974), Peter (1976) and Ulli (1981). Jochen graduated magna cum laude and with honours from Brown University, and holds a BA in Mathematics and Economics and MA in Economics. He also passed his qualifying exams for a Doctorate in Economics at Balliol College, Oxford.{{cite web |title=Jochen R Wermuth Senior Fund Partner, Wermuth Asset Management GmbH |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/person/2429331 |website=www.bloomberg.com |access-date=18 July 2021}} With Russian ecologist Alexandra Kornilova they have three children, Niklas (2005), Alina (2008), Kristina (2012).

In 1993, Jochen Wermuth became an EU-TACIS adviser to Russia's Ministry of Finance in the area of "fiscal policy framework development" based on his studies of the transformations following German unification. He co-founded the World Bank sponsored Economic Expert Group{{cite web |title=MAIN PAGE |url=http://www.eeg.ru/pages/172 |website=www.eeg.ru |access-date=18 July 2021}} under the Ministry of Finance of Russia and headed it between 1995 and 1997.{{Cite web |title=Сложный переход к рынку. Интервью с Е.Г. Ясиным {{!}} История новой России |url=http://ru-90.ru/node/10 |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=ru-90.ru}} In 1997, he joined Deutsche Bank's Global Markets Division in London as Director of Russian debt capital markets origination, working from Moscow as a member of the management committee responsible for setting up Deutsche's fully licensed subsidiary there."Go east, young man – it's the land of opportunities!" - Voice of Russia, Retrieved January 2012http://english.ruvr.ru/radio_broadcast/34857244/64950863.html While working for Deutsche Bank, from 1997 to 1998, Jochen Wermuth and his team raised around $8 billion in financing for Russia. He left Deutsche Bank with an outstanding bonus claim for $37m an issue which was eventually settled amicably out of court.{{Cite web |date=1999-02-27 |title=Банковские ведомости |url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/213914 |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=www.kommersant.ru |language=ru}}People and Business - Bank raid. - The Independent, Retrieved February 1999 www.factiva.comDeutsche Bank Sued by Former Employee for `Wrongful' Firing – Bloomberg, Retrieved February 1999 www.bloomberg.comSacked chief sues Deutsche for Pounds 23m – The Evening Standard, Retrieved February 1999 www.factiva.com

In 1999, Jochen Wermuth became the Founding Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Wermuth Asset Management GmbH, a family office and investment advisor.“Moskau ist ein hartes Pflaster” – Die Welt, Retrieved November 2012 https://www.welt.de/finanzen/article110894984/Moskau-ist-ein-hartes-Pflaster-fuer-Investoren.html “Reformdruck gestiegen” – Boerse Online Retrieved November 2012 http://www.wermutham.com/cmskwd/Files/Borse%20Online%20interview%20with%20Jochen%20W.pdf

He is a member of the board of the Liberal Mission Foundation and a supporter of Greenpeace.{{Cite web |title=Эксперты |url=http://www.liberal.ru/experts.php?op=cat&id=1033 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20170922145325/http://www.liberal.ru/experts.php?op=cat&id=1033 |archive-date=2017-09-22 |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=www.liberal.ru}}

In March 2016 Jochen Wermuth made a Euro 300,000 donation to the German green political party Alliance ´90/The Greens (German: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) to support their election campaign in Baden-Wuerttemberg, where state elections were held on 13 March 2016. He argued that he made this donation because the Greens in Baden-Wuerttemberg were both supportive of the refugee policy of Chancellor Merkel, but also because the party had proven that a sustainable economic policy could generate both high growth and many jobs.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-09/wermuth-bets-on-greens-as-merkel-cools-to-solar-wind-subsidies|title=Wermuth Bets on Greens as Merkel Cools to Solar, Wind Subsidies|last=bparkx|first=Brian Parkin|website=Bloomberg.com|date=9 March 2016|access-date=2016-04-05}} He further said that out of all the German parties only the Greens seemed to have a clear policy focus on the completion of the energy transition to 100 percent renewable power and the transport transition to 100 percent renewable transport as required for Germany to continue to be a leading industrial nation in the future.{{Cite news|url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/wirtschaftspolitik/300-000-euro-fuer-wahlkampf-jetzt-spricht-kretschmanns-groesster-spender-14103232.html|title=300.000 Euro für Wahlkampf Jetzt spricht Kretschmanns größter Spender|last=Preuß|first=Susanne|date=2016-03-03|newspaper=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung|language=de|issn=0174-4909|access-date=2016-04-05}} Indeed, at the elections the Greens became the largest party in a German state for the first time.

The Greens, which had called for caps at Euro 100,000 on individual donations, were criticized for accepting the donation. But Winfried Kretschmann, the Minister-President of Baden-Wuerttemberg, said: The law is not in place yet and it would be silly to not accept this donation.{{Cite news|url=http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/stuttgart-ministerpraesident-verteidigt-euro-wahlkampfspende-an-gruene-1.2893973|title=Stuttgart : Ministerpräsident verteidigt 300 000-Euro-Spende an Südwest-Grüne|newspaper=sueddeutsche.de|language=de|issn=0174-4917|access-date=2016-04-05}} The German newspaper Die Tageszeitung (taz) argued that while it may happen to be a sympathetic cause for someone to make a donation to support green causes, what if someone had provided a 30 percent boost to the election campaign budget for some party promoting coal production? To the taz, the Greens had lost their most important asset, their credibility, by accepting the donation.{{Cite journal|last=Reinecke|first=Stefan|date=March 3, 2016|title=Was unbezahlbar ist|journal=Taz. Die Tageszeitung}}

Wermuth was suspected by German news magazine Der Spiegel for having donated because one of his portfolio companies, Aquarion had many employees in the region and another portfolio company, The Mobility House could potentially benefit from a further development of electric mobility in Baden-Wuerttemberg. Wermuth replied that he would never seek for contracts for his portfolio companies, but that indeed his portfolio companies could profit from the energy and transport transition.{{Cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/baden-wuerttemberg-parteispender-trifft-winfried-kretschmann-a-1080671.html|title=300.000-Spende an die Grünen: "Ich kannte Kretschmann nur von YouTube"|newspaper=Der Spiegel|date=5 March 2016 |access-date=2016-04-05}}

He advised the Russian government on the transition to a market economy during the immediate post-Soviet period, and has been a frequent commentator in the media on Russian economic matters."Wermuth Interview" – Bloomberg TV, Retrieved December 2010 https://www.bloomberg.com/video/64874952-wermuth-interview.html{{Cite web |title=Latest News |url=https://www.cnbc.com/latest-video/ |access-date=2023-11-09 |website=CNBC |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=РБК ТВ - первое российское бизнес-телевидение |url=http://rbctv.rbc.ru/archive/dialogue/562949983878311.shtml |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20120623082258/http://rbctv.rbc.ru:80/archive/dialogue/562949983878311.shtml |archive-date=2012-06-23 |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=rbctv.rbc.ru}}

Jochen Wermuth played a major role in the Dutch TV documentary "The breakthrough in renewable energies" a VPRO backlight documentary aired on national TV in various countries and published on VPRO's YouTube Channel on 6 May 2016.{{Citation |title=Breakthrough in renewable energy - VPRO documentary |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmyrbKBZ6SU |access-date=2023-05-10 |language=en}} It argues that: "It’s not in the papers but a silent revolution is moving across the world. Renewable energy is becoming cheaper than from fossil fuels. It means that progressively the choice for wind and solar energy is no longer an ethical one but an economic one. And this will speed up the transfer to renewable energy."

On the 19th of June 2017, Jochen Wermuth was appointed as an investment committee member of the newly established Fund for the Financing of Nuclear Waste Management (Fonds zur Finanzierung der kerntechnischen Entsorgung). The Fund’s first and foremost task is to raise funds of approximately EUR 24 bn from the operators of nuclear power plants in Germany in early July 2017.{{cite web |last1=Energie |first1=Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und |title=Nuklear-Entsorgungsfonds errichtet |url=http://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Pressemitteilungen/2017/20170619-nuklear-entsorgungsfonds-errichtet.html |website=www.bmwi.de |access-date=18 July 2021 |language=de}}

In December 2016, Jochen Wermuth’s Wermuth Asset Management presented Pope Francis with a new Nissan Leaf electric car as a gift for his 80th birthday. The firm has also made a commitment to prepare four studies that will enable the nation-state of the Vatican to become emissions-free running entirely on renewables.{{cite news |title=Pope receives electric car, as studies for an all-renewables Vatican underway |url=https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/eco-catholic/pope-receives-electric-car-studies-explore-all-renewables-vatican-underway |access-date=18 July 2021 |work=National Catholic Reporter |date=10 March 2017 |language=en}}

In 2017 he has made comment in the publication Christian Today with an article titled: “Why Christians cannot afford to bury their talents in the fight against climate change”. The commentary discusses climate change and the impact monetary investments can have in reducing its adverse effects while also reflecting positively on one’s wealth.{{cite news |title=Why Christians cannot afford to bury their talents in the fight against climate change |url=https://www.christiantoday.com/article/why.christians.cannot.afford.to.bury.their.talents.in.the.fight.against.climate.change/105920.htm |access-date=18 July 2021 |work=www.christiantoday.com |language=en}}

Jochen’s stance favoring the advancement of the Green Industrial Revolution has led him to voice his opinions (Die Zeit, November 2016) regarding the positive role that Germany can play in the green energy transition, and the economic benefit that can be realized as a result of the country’s participation.{{cite web |title=ZEIT ONLINE {{!}} Lesen Sie zeit.de mit Werbung oder im PUR-Abo. Sie haben die Wahl. |url=http://www.zeit.de/2016/44/klimaschutz-energiewende-investoren-unternehmer |website=www.zeit.de |access-date=18 July 2021}}

In 2020 he appeared in the movie “Schmutzige Geschäfte mit unserer Rente”, where he presented Nexwafe, a German solar wafer manufacturer. The film shows how big pension funds and insurers are greenwashing with private pension money.{{cite news |title=Schmutzige Geschäfte - Reportage & Dokumentation - ARD {{!}} Das Erste |url=https://www.daserste.de/information/reportage-dokumentation/dokus/sendung/schmutzige-geschaefte-mit-unserer-rente-100.html |access-date=18 July 2021 |work=www.daserste.de |language=de}}

He first got known to the general public when German TV station Suedwestfunk did a documentary about his work in the Russian Ministry of Finance "Der Taschenrechner des Kreml, 1997".{{cite web|url=http://marjorie-wiki.de/wiki/Jochen_Wermuth |title=Jochen Wermuth - Enzyklopädie Marjorie-Wiki |language=de |publisher=Marjorie-wiki.de |date=2012-09-02 |access-date=2012-09-21}} He has since become a regular commentator on the global macroeconomic situation and on Russia in the international media.

{{Cite web |title=Return of Russia's Putin |url=https://www.cnbc.com/video/2011/10/20/return-of-russias-putin-.html |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=CNBC |language=en}}Russia Corruption "World Champion" – CNBC Squawk Box, Retrieved June 2011 http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=1962874854{{Cite web |title=Investors Positive About Putin Election Win: CIO |url=https://www.cnbc.com/video/2012/03/05/investors-positive-about-putin-election-win-cio-.html |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=CNBC |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Oliphant |first=Roland |date=2012-11-28 |title=Q&A: Economist Wermuth Keeps Shepherding Progress |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2012/11/28/qa-economist-wermuth-keeps-shepherding-progress-a19787 |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=The Moscow Times |language=en}}

Yevgeny Yasin, ex-Minister of Economics wrote in his article in a book about Russian economic reforms that Jochen Wermuth, head of the Economic Expert Group under the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, was the first to warn of a potential default of the Russian Government in a memo in the fall of 1996 which he forwarded to Chernomyrdin.

In summer 2010, Jochen Wermuth, together with Nikita Suslov published an article "How to improve Russia's Investment Climate".Инвестиции в Россию: Как улучшить климат – Ведомости, Retrieved June 2011 http://www.vedomosti.ru/newspaper/article/261256/kak_uluchshit_klimat In the fall of 2011, ahead of the Russian Duma elections and the general public uproar, Jochen Wermuth challenged President Vladimir Putin on the progress made in terms of fighting corruption and in terms of improving the Russian business climate at the VTB conference.{{Citation |title=Jochen Wermuth asks Prime Minister Putin questions on the investment climate in Russia at the VTB Capital conference "Russia Calling" |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD8OxQNkbtY |access-date=2023-05-10 |language=en}}

File:Jochen Wermuth at the signing ceremony dedicated to the launch of the Resource efficiency fund ECTF.JPG

Jochen Wermuth is a sponsor of Greenpeace since 1992,{{Cite web |title=suspended page |url=http://events.cleantech.com/cgi-sys/suspendedpage.cgi |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=events.cleantech.com}} a member of "Eurosolar" since 2000 and did his first investments into clean tech in 2000, starting with an integrated production chain from quartz sands to mono-silicon with the late Nobel Prize Laureate Alexander Prokhorov. He found that he required a stronger balance sheet to see through such important break-through technologies, turned his family office into an investment advisory business and gradually built the team and assets dedicated to investments in sustainable growth, culminating in the "Green Gateway Fund"{{Cite news |date=2012-01-30 |title=Wermuth launches Russian clean tech energy fund |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/wermuthassetmanagement-idUSL5E8CU2W220120130 |access-date=2023-05-10}}{{Citation |title=Towards a Circular Economy with Europe-Tatarstan Clean Tech Fund |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHHy8cNgozE |access-date=2023-05-10 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Boslet |first=Mark |date=2012-03-28 |title=What’s Hot in Cleantech, Including a Possible Agilyx IPO and a New Russian Fund |url=https://www.venturecapitaljournal.com/whats-hot-in-cleantech-including-a-possible-agilyx-ipo-and-a-new-russian-fund/ |access-date=2023-11-09 |website=Venture Capital Journal |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Kirsch |first=Konrad |title=Cleantech-Fonds |date=29 April 2012 |url=https://www.vc-magazin.de/blog/2012/04/29/jochen-wermuth-wermuth-asset-management-cleantech-fonds-fuer-die-eu-und-russland/ |access-date=2023-05-10 |language=de-DE}}{{Cite web |title=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/ |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=www.ft.com}} dedicated to investing in leading EU clean tech companies {{Cite web |date=2012-11-23 |title=Impact investing a growing trend with family offices, says Wermuth |url=https://www.internationalinvestment.net/internationalinvestment/news/3702600/impact-investing-growing-trend-family-offices-wermuth |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=InternationalInvestment |language=en}} with technologies relevant to the Russian-Kazakhstan-Belarusian Free Trade zone to which entry to such a market via Russia's region of Tatarstan might be attractive.{{Cite web |last=Vaandrager |first=Eiso |date=2012-10-22 |title=Russia Could Lead 3rd Industrial Revolution |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2012/10/22/russia-could-lead-3rd-industrial-revolution-a18753 |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=The Moscow Times |language=en}}

“Россия сможет обогнать страны ОЭСР, если перейдет к безотходной экономике” – Ведомости, Retrieved November 2012 http://www.vedomosti.ru/finance/analytics/2012/11/22/31491

After leaving Deutsche Bank, Wermuth founded his own family office focusing on sustainable investments, Russia and the CIS.{{Citation |title=Interview with Jochen Wermuth, Chief Investment Officer at Wermuth Asset Management |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZDhPatpK_A |access-date=2023-05-10 |language=en}} Wermuth Asset Management (WAM) is an international investment advisory firm headquartered in Germany and with branches in Russia and the Netherlands. The firm's main clients are investments funds it sponsors, which in turn have high-net-worth individuals, family offices, fund of funds, pension fund and sovereign wealth funds as investors. WAM advises funds in several alternative asset classes, including long/short equities activist value investing, real estate development and private equity, with a focus on sustainable growth and clean-technology funds spanning the EU and Russia, which make up 60% of AUM. Among others, WAM invests in the solar manufacturer Nexwafe via the Green Growth Fund 2.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nexwafe.com/site/assets/files/1021/pr_nexwafe_ggf2_verdopptelt_investition_19-02-2019_gr.pdf |title=NexWafe's innovative technology receives further support |access-date=2021-07-05 |archive-date=2021-07-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709185441/https://www.nexwafe.com/site/assets/files/1021/pr_nexwafe_ggf2_verdopptelt_investition_19-02-2019_gr.pdf |url-status=dead }}(in German) Nexwafe produces energy- and material-saving wafers that also bring a significant cost advantage.https://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/content/dam/ise/de/documents/infomaterial/jahresberichte/fraunhofer-ise-jahresbericht-2015-2016.pdf Fraunhofer 2015/2016 Annual Report (in German) Since its foundation in 1999, WAM has advised on more than $1 billion of investments. WAM has been a member of the World Economic Forum's "Champions of Tomorrow" and the G20 Green Growth Action Alliance (G2A2) initiatives and a sponsor of Transparency International{{cite web|author=Mike Baab |url=http://www.transparency.org/private_sector_support |title=Transparency International - Private Sector Support |publisher=Transparency.org |access-date=2012-09-21}} and of the "Deutsch-Russische Jugendaustausch" (German Russian Youth Exchange).

Furthermore, Jochen Wermuth is an investment advisory committee member of KENFO,{{Cite web|url=https://www.kenfo.de/en/start|title = KENFO - German Nuclear Waste Management Fund}} Germany’s €24bn sovereign wealth fund and a member of Toniic’s "100% impact" Family Office Network{{cite web |title=More Than Divesting |url=https://toniic.com/more-than-divesting/ |website=Toniic |access-date=18 July 2021 |date=17 September 2019}} that is committed to invest across all asset classes with market returns and a positive impact.

In the period leading up to the German parliamentary elections in 2021, he supports GermanZero,{{cite web |title=Wer wir sind - GermanZero - Deutschland bis 2035 klimaneutral machen |url=https://germanzero-fa2f0661ac1ff7ce83c92e949411.webflow.io/werwirsind |website=GermanZero e.V. |access-date=18 July 2021 |language=de}} a German climate protection organization that advocates a 1.5-degree legislative package and climate neutrality in Germany by 2035.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

Wermuth is a member of the board of curators of the Friends and Supporters of the Berlin State Opera,{{Cite web|url=https://www.staatsoper-berlin.de/en/partners/friends-supporters/About%20us/|title=About us | Staatsoper Berlin}} a member of the Young President's Organization and is its inaugural spokesperson for the YPO Global Pulse,YPO Releases Quarterly Global Pulse CEO Survey April Results http://www.ypo.org/docs/European%20Union%201Q2010%20Release,%20Final.pdf a member of Eurosolar founded by Hermann Scheer, a member of The Liberal Mission of Russia, the German Association for Foreign Policy (DGAP), and a supporter of Greenpeace. His philanthropic activity includes support of renewable energy research at Brown University, support of the New Economics School in Moscow, to Russian orphanages and efforts to protect the grave of artist Kazimir Malevich.{{Cite web |date=2011-12-01 |title=Campaign to build Malevich centre by artist's grave |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2011/12/01/campaign-to-build-malevich-centre-by-artists-grave |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=The Art Newspaper - International art news and events}} He is a runner, swimmer and cyclist and used to ballroom dance, play tennis and soccer.

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Category:1969 births

Category:Living people

Category:Chief investment officers

Category:21st-century German businesspeople

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Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford