Thomas Groffmann

Thomas Groffmann
Thomas
Groffmann

Thomas Groffmann joined the European Patent Office (EPO), headquartered in Munich, as Principal Director in January 2017. As Fund Administrator he is responsible for the management of the EPO’s Reserve Funds for Pensions and Social Security. He is a member of the Management Advisory Committee and the Financial Advisory Committee to the EPO President. The European Patent Organisation, of which the EPO is the executive body, is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member states at present.

In 2011, Thomas joined BlackRock as Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer for Germany, Austria and Eastern Europe. Among other roles, he was a Board Member of BlackRock Asset Management Deutschland AG and iShares (DE) Investment AG. Thomas was also an elected Board Member of the German Investment Funds Association (BVI).

From 1998 to 2011, Thomas held various management positions at Allianz Group, including Head of European Pensions at Allianz SE and Head of Product Development at Allianz Global Investors. Prior to joining Allianz, he spent four years at Commerzbank.

Thomas studied economics at the University of Bonn and the University of California at Berkeley. During his studies for the European Doctoral Programme in Quantitative Economics, he spent a year at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He holds a Master’s degree (MSc) in economics and a PhD in finance.