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 unconvincing: savings account, building savings contract, life insurance. Too much opinion, too little substance, too little certainty of success. So he started searching himself.
Curiosity instead of convention
Skeptical and inquisitive by nature, he researched deeper - not in glossy brochures, but in scientific literature. He came across the concept of passive investing with index funds. This was known in the USA for a long time. In Germany, on the other hand: none. 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 fund 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 complained for so long, the bank let him into the fund despite the small investment amount. Kommer was probably the first private investor in a stock 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 a personal collection of notes. It is a complete book. And so the first edition of was published in 2000 Invest confidently with index funds and ETFs (at that time under a different title). The first systematic guide aimed at private investors on forecast-free, scientific investing in German-speaking countries.
The book barely sold at first. But Kommer stuck with it, improving, adding, and updating. After the financial crisis of 2007/2008, interest in the topic grew - and with it the readership. Today the book is a classic, published in seven lovingly revised, updated editions and, for many, the introduction to a rational understanding of investing.
From book to brand
Over the years, Gerd Kommer became a fixture in the field of financial education in 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 rather in corporate banking at international banks. Investing was his personal topic - but one that increasingly interested other people as well.
Readers increasingly asked him for specific 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 customers. Personally supervised, cost-transparent, free of conflicts of interest. What started small developed quickly. Today the company looks after a significantly larger team and a wide range of clients.
Give 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.
In 2023, the L&G Gerd Kommer Multifactor Equity ETF was added - a globally diversified stock ETF for self-decision makers. For everyone who wants to take care of their investments independently, but doesn't want to miss out on scientifically based components.
The mission remains the same
Despite all entrepreneurial development, one thing remains at the center: financial education. Gerd Kommer writes, speaks, explains - in books, in the blog, in interviews and videos. The Gerd Kommer Group is part of a growing movement that empowers people to shape their finances in a self-determined, evidence-based manner and without sales interests.
Because better investing begins with better understanding. And that starts with education.
