Key facts
- Alison Harding-Jones has been named co-head of Deutsche Bank's investment bank.
- She succeeds Mark Fedorcik, who is retiring after 30 years with the bank.
- The bank is restructuring its investment banking division to a regional model.
- New leadership appointments have been made across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas.
- Deutsche Bank aims to increase market share in Europe and Asia.
- The bank is seeking to reduce its reliance on fixed income trading revenue.
Deutsche Bank has announced a significant restructuring of its global investment banking division, including a key leadership change. Alison Harding-Jones has been appointed co-head of the investment bank, succeeding Mark Fedorcik, who is retiring after a 30-year career with the bank. Harding-Jones, who joined Deutsche Bank in January 2024 as global head of mergers and acquisitions, brings over three decades of experience from previous roles at Citigroup and UBS.
The restructuring shifts the division from a product-based to a regional structure. Key appointments include Pierpaolo Di Stefano leading origination and advisory for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (excluding Germany, Austria, and Switzerland), while Jeff Cady and Bruce Evans will oversee operations in the Americas. Berthold Fuerst will lead the division in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. This strategic realignment aims to strengthen the bank's dealmaking capabilities and reduce its reliance on fixed income trading, which accounted for 87% of the investment bank's earnings in the first quarter of 2025.
CEO Christian Sewing has labeled 2025 as a "year of reckoning" for the bank, emphasizing the need to meet cost and profitability targets, including a cost-to-income ratio below 65% and a return on tangible equity exceeding 10%. Analysts have expressed skepticism about the bank's ability to meet these ambitious targets. Despite efforts to grow the investment banking division, origination and advisory revenue dropped 8% in the first quarter of 2025, a situation CEO Sewing attributed to delays in corporate decision-making influenced by global trade tensions and U.S. tariff policies.