Story
The story behind Gerd Kommer
What to do with the first money you have saved? Gerd Kommer asked himself this question at the end of the 1990s – and it never left him. The standard answers sounded familiar, but not very convincing: Savings account, building society savings contract, life insurance. Too much opinion, too little substance, too little certainty of success. So he began to search for himself.
Curiosity instead of convention
Naturally skeptical and inquisitive, he delved deeper – not in glossy brochures, but in scientific literature. He came across the concept of passive investing with index funds. This had long been known in the USA. In Germany, on the other hand: Not a chance. No products, no demand, no awareness.
But instead of leaving it at that, he did something that hardly anyone else does: He called banks and asset management companies – not as a professional, but as a private investor – and asked: “Do you have a product like this?” One finally said yes – but only for institutional investors, not private investors. Because Gerd Kommer kept nagging for so long, the bank let him into the fund despite the small investment amount. Kommer was probably the first private investor in an equity index fund in Germany in 1997.
A book that was never intended to be a book
What Gerd Kommer learned during this time, he initially only recorded for himself. He structured, checked, formulated – until at some point he realized: This is more than just a personal collection of notes. It is a complete book. And so the first issue of Souverän investieren mit Index Fonds und ETFs was published in 2000 (under a different title at the time). The first systematic guide to forecast-free, scientific investing aimed at private investors in the German-speaking world.
The book hardly sold at first. But Kommer kept at it, improving, adding and updating. After the 2007/2008 financial crisis, interest in the topic grew – and with it the readership. Today, the book is a classic, published in seven lovingly revised and updated editions to date and for many the introduction to a rational understanding of investments.
From book to brand
Over the years, Gerd Kommer became a fixture in the field of financial education in the German-speaking countries – not because he was loud, but because he persistently pursued a great idea: Making the findings from the science of investing usable for normal private investors. He never worked in asset management or investment consulting, but in the corporate client business of international banks. Capital investment was his personal topic – but one that increasingly interested more and more others.
More and more readers asked him for concrete help. So he made a decision.
The step into practice
in 2017, Gerd Kommer founded Gerd Kommer Invest GmbH – an independent, scientifically oriented asset management company for wealthy private clients. Personal support, cost transparency, free from conflicts of interest. What started small developed rapidly. Today, the company manages a significantly larger team and a broad range of mandates.
Giving more people access
the next step followed in 2020 with the founding of Gerd Kommer Capital: The same investment philosophy, but implemented digitally as a “robo advisor” – for investors with smaller amounts who do not need personal support but want to rely on the same evidence-based approach.
Finally, in 2023, the L&G Gerd Kommer Multifactor Equity ETF was added – a globally diversified equity ETF for self-directed investors. For all those who want to take care of their capital investments independently, but do not want to do without scientifically sound building blocks.
The mission remains the same
Despite all the entrepreneurial development, one thing remains central: Financial education. Gerd Kommer writes, speaks and explains – in books, on the blog, in interviews and videos. The Gerd Kommer Group is part of a growing movement that empowers people to manage their finances in a self-determined, evidence-based way and without sales interests.
Because better capital investment starts with better understanding. And that starts with education.
