Business Development Manager - Germany

About the role

GMO's European client relations team is comprised of eight members, predominantly located in London with an EU presence in Amsterdam. The group is responsible for maintaining and advancing GMO's competitive edge in marketing, sales and client service to provide the best service possible consistent with achieving investment goals. Within Europe, GMO has a significant and growing business of $20bn, of which approximately $1bn are German clients across a variety of business channels and investment strategies. GMO has been committed to the European market since the late 1980's and is keen to strategically expand the already broad range of UCITS vehicles, as well as continue to explore demand for active UCITS ETFs.

Responsibilities

• Own designated prospect / client universe, and identify, create and progress new business opportunities within that assigned prospect universe, aiming to meet sales and revenue targets which will contribute to bonus determination
• Demonstrate a collaborative, respectful and confident approach to working with European team colleagues
• Develop and implement own strategic business development plan for designated market segment and contribute broadly to all sales and servicing plans within Germany and Austria consistent with the goals, capabilities and culture of the firm
• Forge strong internal working relationships, partnering closely with other members of the global relationship, investment, and support teams, across a range of functions
• Quickly develop a strong voice that contributes to the strategic business development plan for Europe and the broader Global Client Relations Team
• Maintain a comprehensive understanding of assigned market segment and how it is evolving – communicating this clearly both horizontally and vertically with a focus on potential risks and business opportunities inclusive of product development

Requirements

• Sales-led mentality, backed up with strong technical and relationship skills
• Demonstrated success in building multi-layered relationships and revenue growth
• Experience with several of the key channels required (pensions, insurance, E&Fs, family offices, wealth management and private banks), with the ability to expand into all channels
• Self-motivated with the ability to communicate well with a team while working remotely
• German and English speaking
• Minimum 8+ years of direct responsibility for own sales territory and demonstrated sales results, with overall 10-15 years industry experience
• While experienced, retains willingness to personally service accounts with the support of a team analyst (including reporting, ad hoc queries, regular servicing meetings)
• Driven, wants accountability and understands that success will be rewarded; eager to engage with leadership at GMO to achieve results in target market
• Proven client facing track record with the ability to confidently communicate and be an advocate for GMO's broad investment strategies across a wide range of sophisticated clients
• Strong investment acumen, intellectual curiosity and the ability to quickly understand and clearly discuss GMO's investment techniques, strategies and concepts
• Outstanding communication (written and oral), presentation and interpersonal skills
• The ability to convey and adapt complex messages powerfully and in a clear manner so clients of all types and levels of sophistication will understand