Eschen joins Commerz Real board while Koch made CEO

Commerz Real has appointed Siegfried Eschen, a real estate economist, to its board of management. He joins the company from Commerzbank where, since 2015, he has developed and headed the real estate competence centre within the corporate clients unit. This now now has a portfolio worth about €5 billion.

Eschen’s move to Commerz Real’s board follows the recent appointment of Henning Koch as the company’s new chief executive officer.

Koch will take up the position on 1 May 2021, also becoming chairman of the management of Commerz Real Investment. He has been with the company since 2017, having joined the company from Credit Suisse after beginning his career with Savills.

He has been a member of the board of management of Commerz Real and responsible for the company’s transactions and asset management since April 2020.

Koch succeeds Gabriele Volz, whose appointment as a member of the board of Commerz Real ends on 30 April 2021. She is leaving the company by mutual consent following “a difference of opinions on the management and future strategic orientation of Commerz Real,” according to a company statement.

Volz’s appointment was announced in June 2020, when it was stated that she would take up the role on 1 January 2021. Since 2009 she had been managing director of Wealthcap, a subsidiary of UniCredit Bank.