Effective 1 June, Krafft will initially lead the company together with existing CEO Hayo Willms. Krafft will assume sole management responsibility as of 1 September 2011.
However, Willms will remain closely connected with Rothschild, as a member of the newly created advisory board.
Krafft is the founder and owner of Jupiter Group, Luxembourg, which specializes in the development and financing of commercial US and German real estate projects.
Prior to this, Krafft spent three years with Sal Oppenheim Jr & Cie. He spent a large part of his career with Dresdner Bank, latterly as chief investment officer and division head of private & business banking.
The private bank said that the German business will work closely with Thomas Pixner, head private clients at Rothschild Bank Switzerland, and Martin Reitz in his role as country head of the Rothschild Group in Germany.
Rothschild has also secured the services of Alexander Kolb for the new advisory board. Kolb is currently a member of the administrative board of Wilh.Werhahn, and managing director and CIO of CPWJ Vermogensverwaltung in Frankfurt.
With the appointment of Krafft and the creation of the new advisory board, Rothschild plans to bolster Germany further as a location, and is seeking to open up access to new client segments and a closer cooperation between investment banking and private banking.
However, the appointment of Krafft is subject to the approval of Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).
