Stefan Ciapanna Named Managing Director at Deka Immobilien Investment and WestInvest, Succeeding Burkhard Dallosch

Deka Immobilien GmbH has appointed Stefan Ciapanna as managing director of Deka Immobilien Investment and WestInvest, the Deka Group's two real estate capital management companies, in a planned succession from Burkhard Dallosch. Subject to approval by Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), Ciapanna formally joined both management boards on April 1, 2025, taking over the CRO & Steering Asset Management Immobilien division.

Dallosch, who served on both management boards for more than 15 years, exited his roles on March 31, 2025. In the United Kingdom, Companies House records reflect the same transition, with Ciapanna succeeding Dallosch as managing officer of Deka Immobilien Investment's overseas entity as of that date.

A Career Built on Financing and Risk

Ciapanna is a trained banker and Diplom-Kaufmann whose career has been concentrated in financing and credit risk across asset-heavy sectors. Before joining DekaBank in 2012, he held positions in the financing divisions of HSH Nordbank, Berenberg Bank and NORD/LB.

At DekaBank, he advanced from group head to head of portfolio management in the credit business in 2016, and then to head of credit risk management for financings in 2019. In that capacity, he was responsible for independent credit voting and risk monitoring — including workout — of a credit portfolio of approximately €20 billion spanning real estate, transport and infrastructure financings.

In autumn 2024, Ciapanna transferred from DekaBank to Deka Immobilien to prepare for the managing director role as part of the planned succession. He formally assumed the CRO & Steering position on April 1, 2025.

Scope of the CRO & Steering Role

The CRO & Steering function at Deka Immobilien coordinates risk, performance and sustainability steering for real assets, integrating credit risk oversight, asset management key performance indicators and ESG metrics into portfolio decisions. Under Dallosch, the role had encompassed combined CRO, CFO and COO responsibilities across both capital management companies.

Deka Immobilien Investment and WestInvest manage large open-ended retail funds — including Deka-ImmobilienEuropa, Deka-ImmobilienGlobal and WestInvest InterSelect — as well as real estate Spezialfonds for German institutional and retail investors. Assets under management in the Spezialfonds segment, including fund-of-funds, stood at approximately €4.4 billion in 2024, down slightly from €4.5 billion in 2023.

Leadership Endorsement

Dr. Matthias Danne, Asset Management board member at DekaBank and chairman of the supervisory boards of Deka Immobilien Investment and WestInvest, commented on the appointment: "Stefan Ciapanna ist ein sehr guter Kandidat für die beiden Geschäftsführungsaufgaben. Er zeichnet sich durch eine breite Management- und Projekterfahrung, fachliche und analytische Tiefe sowie eine gewinnende Persönlichkeit aus, die er mit Führungsstärke verbindet."

Danne also acknowledged Dallosch's tenure: "Zugleich danken wir Burkhard Dallosch, der sich in den vergangenen mehr als 15 Jahren um das Geschäftsfeld Asset Management Immobilien der Deka verdient gemacht und mit hohem Engagement und Professionalität die erfolgreiche Entwicklung unserer beiden Immobilien-Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaften maßgeblich verantwortet hat."

Market Context: Risk Governance Under Pressure

The transition places a risk specialist at the helm of Deka Immobilien's control and steering function at a time when German and European real estate fund managers are navigating significant valuation and financing pressure. Prime office yields across Germany's top seven markets rose sharply following the interest rate cycle that began in 2022, reaching an average of approximately 4.91% by mid-2024 — up roughly 87 basis points year-on-year — before stabilizing near that level through the end of 2024, with Munich at approximately 4.60% and Berlin at approximately 4.80%.

Open-ended retail funds across the German market have faced valuation adjustments, liquidity management scrutiny and increased redemption pressure during this period, elevating the importance of risk governance and capital buffer management within fund platforms. The slight decline in Deka's Spezialfonds assets under management reflects broader institutional caution around valuations and sector risk that has characterized the German market in recent years.

Against that backdrop, Ciapanna's appointment represents a handover of responsibility for risk, capital allocation and portfolio steering at one of Germany's larger real estate fund platforms to an executive whose career has centered on managing large, complex credit portfolios — including workout situations — across real estate and related asset classes.

Sources

Deka Immobilien GmbH — Stefan Ciapanna folgt Burkhard Dallosch als Geschäftsführer