AllianzGI bolsters Munich private debt team with senior hire

Allianz Global Investors has hired Adrian Grammerstorf to join its private debt team in Munich as part of its expansion into the continent.

Grammerstorf brings 15 years of mid-market debt experience and joins from UniCredit, where he was director of financial sponsors and leveraged finance in Munich. Before joining UniCredit in 2007, he worked in M&A transaction advisory services at Deloitte.

At AllianzGI Grammerstorf will be responsible for developing mid-market debt opportunities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He will report to Damien Guichard, head of European private credit.

AllianzGI said the firm now has two substantial bases in France and Germany for private debt investment and Grammerstorf’s appointment will strengthen its European offering.

Deborah Zurkow, global head of alternatives at AllianzGI, said: “We understand how important it is to have local sourcing and structuring capabilities in the mid-market private debt space. Adding a senior hire to our team in Germany provides further, significant on-the-ground expertise to our clients in one of the largest and fastest-growing private debt markets in Europe.”

The expanded European team will target mid-market senior debt strategies with an objective to provide excess returns through the credit cycle and enable clients to diversify their portfolios. AllianzGI also recently announced it is launching an Asian private debt operation based in Singapore.