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Florian Forst

Partner

Head, Financial Services, Central Europe

Florian has over 20 years of experience advising Financial Services senior executives and decision-makers in strategic changes and achieving tangible results.

 

Areas of Focus

Education

Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich
University Law Degree
Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford

Past Experience

zeb consulting
Partner
UniCredit Group
Senior Vice President
McKinsey & Company
Associate Principal

Florian is a Partner based in our Munich office. He is a member of the global Financial Services Core Management Team and Head of Financial Services Central Europe.

Florian is a topic expert in retail, private, and SME banking on:

  • Growth programs
  • Restructuring efforts
  • Omnichannel banking, including sales steering models and organizational set-up
  • Platform/open banking
  • Customer-driven E2E digitalization

Florian started his career with McKinsey & Company in 2000, supporting leaders of financial institutions mainly in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and the UK. He moved in 2007 to UniCredit Group to build it up from scratch and lead its in-house consulting unit (approximately 75 full-time equivalents), supporting the Group across Europe in highly demanding growth, restructuring, and change projects. In 2016 he joined zeb consulting, a leading European consulting boutique focused on financial services. There he built his client franchise, advising senior leaders of international/ European universal banks, German private banks, financial services infrastructure providers, and PE firms investing into FS. 

Florian is a lawyer by training, having studied at the Universities of Munich and Oxford. He holds a Ph.D. in Company Law from the University of Munich.

o    Florian is married and has two daughters. He is living in Munich and enjoys sports with his family. Moreover, Florian is a passionate cook.

Recent Publications

The future of private banking & wealth management
Financial services
The future of private banking & wealth management
Florian Forst
Managing wealth for private clients is a profitable, competitive, and growing business — and currently dominated by traditional players with proven skills in holistic wealth management and personal client service. Meaningful change is not happening, partly due to the players’ ongoing success. But previous strategies and offerings likely will not satisfy the next generation. In this Viewpoint, we outline three dimensions to drive growth for the wealth managers of the future.
Find out more
From green finance to greening finance
Financial services
From green finance to greening finance
Georg von Pfoestl, Florian Forst
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) provides financial services businesses with a framework for funding and de-risking the shift to a greener world. It offers banks an enormous revenue opportunity by introducing green products and services to new and existing customers. However, greening finance requires changes in culture and mindset and expanding ESG considerations to include an economic perspective, thus creating ESGE (environmental, social, governance, and economic). This Viewpoint explains how banks can innovate and unlock ESG’s revenue potential.
Find out more
Adopting behavioral finance in investment management
Financial services
Adopting behavioral finance in investment management
Florian Forst
Financial institutions are increasingly being pushed to tailor their offerings and services to the individual needs of their clients. Behavioral finance (BF) aids in assessing clients’ needs and decision-making processes. It proposes that human biases can cause irrationalities in investment behaviors. Incorporating this concept into an investment approach allows institutions to diverge from traditional approaches and ultimately aims at improving financial health and client satisfaction.
Find out more

Florian is a Partner based in our Munich office. He is a member of the global Financial Services Core Management Team and Head of Financial Services Central Europe.

Florian is a topic expert in retail, private, and SME banking on:

  • Growth programs
  • Restructuring efforts
  • Omnichannel banking, including sales steering models and organizational set-up
  • Platform/open banking
  • Customer-driven E2E digitalization

Florian started his career with McKinsey & Company in 2000, supporting leaders of financial institutions mainly in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and the UK. He moved in 2007 to UniCredit Group to build it up from scratch and lead its in-house consulting unit (approximately 75 full-time equivalents), supporting the Group across Europe in highly demanding growth, restructuring, and change projects. In 2016 he joined zeb consulting, a leading European consulting boutique focused on financial services. There he built his client franchise, advising senior leaders of international/ European universal banks, German private banks, financial services infrastructure providers, and PE firms investing into FS. 

Florian is a lawyer by training, having studied at the Universities of Munich and Oxford. He holds a Ph.D. in Company Law from the University of Munich.

o    Florian is married and has two daughters. He is living in Munich and enjoys sports with his family. Moreover, Florian is a passionate cook.

Recent Publications

The future of private banking & wealth management
Financial services
The future of private banking & wealth management
Florian Forst
Managing wealth for private clients is a profitable, competitive, and growing business — and currently dominated by traditional players with proven skills in holistic wealth management and personal client service. Meaningful change is not happening, partly due to the players’ ongoing success. But previous strategies and offerings likely will not satisfy the next generation. In this Viewpoint, we outline three dimensions to drive growth for the wealth managers of the future.
Find out more
From green finance to greening finance
Financial services
From green finance to greening finance
Georg von Pfoestl, Florian Forst
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) provides financial services businesses with a framework for funding and de-risking the shift to a greener world. It offers banks an enormous revenue opportunity by introducing green products and services to new and existing customers. However, greening finance requires changes in culture and mindset and expanding ESG considerations to include an economic perspective, thus creating ESGE (environmental, social, governance, and economic). This Viewpoint explains how banks can innovate and unlock ESG’s revenue potential.
Find out more
Adopting behavioral finance in investment management
Financial services
Adopting behavioral finance in investment management
Florian Forst
Financial institutions are increasingly being pushed to tailor their offerings and services to the individual needs of their clients. Behavioral finance (BF) aids in assessing clients’ needs and decision-making processes. It proposes that human biases can cause irrationalities in investment behaviors. Incorporating this concept into an investment approach allows institutions to diverge from traditional approaches and ultimately aims at improving financial health and client satisfaction.
Find out more

More About Florian
  • Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich
    University Law Degree
  • Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford
  • zeb consulting
    Partner
  • UniCredit Group
    Senior Vice President
  • McKinsey & Company
    Associate Principal