A native of Hamburg, Germany, where his extended family is still the largest shareholder of Germany’s oldest private bank, Andreas von Specht lives with his wife in Paris. He gained a degree in Business Administration from the European Business School, studying in Germany, the United Kingdom and France.
Andreas started his professional career in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry where he worked for over 10 years with Mars Snackfood, Bacardi and in his last position as the European Managing Director for Van Houten. After joining the global Executive Search firm Egon Zehnder in 1994, he served as Managing Partner in Frankfurt and member of the German Leadership – and in the last 5 years of his tenure led the firm’s worldwide Consumer & Retail Practice based out of Paris. Over 17 years, he became a global specialist in the Consumer & Retail industries, and developed an expertise in advising larger European families, Family Business owners and Family Offices across a variety and countries.
In 2011, Andreas founded AvS Advisors in Hamburg and Paris. Today, the firm operates from offices in Germany (Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich), France (Paris), Switzerland (Geneva and Zurich), London, Singapore & Hongkong and Latin America (Bogota/Colombia) and cooperates with several strategic partners in Europe, Canada (Montreal), the US (Atlanta, New York) and Australia (Sydney). The firm has a clear focus on privately held clients around the world. AvS Advisors supports Family Businesses, Family Offices and also Financial Investors & PE Funds in all matters related to succession and c-level appointments, as well as ownership advisory and family & corporate governance issues.
Andreas serves on several boards and notably represents his family on the Advisory Board of Berenberg Bank in Hamburg, the oldest private bank in Germany. Together with his sister, he became also a share-holder of Bergos Bank AG, Zürich.