Brown Bag Lunch Series: The Eurozone from a German Perspective

An assortment of sandwiches, salads, and drinks will be provided.


It all started with a brilliant idea: In 1999 eleven member states of the European Union adopted the Euro (€) as their common currency and sole legal tender to share the economic and political benefits typically only associated with larger countries. The targeted synergies and economies of scale from the agreements made between these countries were expected to have a positive, long-lasting impact for all member nations.

Today, more than 16 years later, the Eurozone is facing the biggest threat in its still young history due to significant divergences among their member nations in terms of economic growth, unemployment rates and national debt levels.

What is Germany’s role in this mosaic? Why has Germany done so well compared to some other countries? And what will the future bring for both Germany and the Eurozone?

Falko Hörnicke, CFA®, CFP®

Falko Hörnicke is a senior portfolio manager and the head of portfolio management at Bergquist Wang, LLC with experience in the financial industry since 1996. He received his postgraduate degree in economic and financial studies (“Diplom Betriebswirt) from Frankfurt School of Finance & Management (Germany) in 2003 and collected the right to carry the Chartered Financial Analyst® as well as the Certified Financial Planner® designation in 2006 and 2015, respectively.

Falko started his career as a certified banker where he found his passion for capital markets. In 1999 he started with Invesco as an analyst and portfolio manager for global equites and played a decisive role in developing, implementing and monitoring the firm’s proprietary quantitative stock selection model. After 6 years within that position he left as a senior portfolio manager to join Lupus alpha, a start-up asset manager in the European mid- and small-cap landscape. His quantitative background and fundamental stock selection skills were key in building the firm’s investment philosophy and process. Within 6 years prior to his departure in 2011 he and his team built up the firm’s assets under management from USD 150 million to USD 2 billion.

In 2011 he started at the prestigious privately owned Bankhaus Lampe as the head of portfolio management. Together with his team of 8 investment professionals and 2 associates Falko was responsible for the asset allocation and portfolio management of the bank’s USD 4 billion assets under management from high-net-worth individuals from all over Germany, Switzerland and Austria. When Falko is not fully covered by the Wall Street Journal, he spends all of his free time with his wife Maria and newborn son Gabriel. He is passionate about scuba diving, skiing, mountain biking, tennis and traveling the world. He can be contacted at Falko@BergquistWang.com.