Deutsche Bank bullish on India

Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Josef Ackermann said the investment bank has a "very good pipeline" and predicted a lift from China and India.

"We, the eight or nine players in global investment banking, have a very good future,'' Ackermann said yesterday in an interview. Emerging markets such as China and India are demanding "increasingly complex products,'' boosting sales and trading.

Ackermann, who took over the Frankfurt-based bank in 2002, has turned it into one of the world's five biggest trading firms. The bank's security unit accounts for more than half of pretax profit. Deutsche Bank isn't interested in buying other investment banks, Ackermann said.

"In investment banking, we're so strong in all markets that we can compensate for relatively weak periods with organic growth, so acquisitions are barely of interest,'' he said.

The bank is "always examining acquisitions'' in the retail sector, particularly emerging markets, he said.

Last year, Deutsche Bank agreed to buy consumer lenders Norisbank and Berliner Bank for a combined 1.1 billion euros ($1.42 billion) to strengthen its domestic retail business. Last May, Deutsche Bank and Sal. Oppenheim Jr. & Cie completed their purchase of combined 13.9 percent stake in China's Huaxia Bank.

Deutsche Bank plans strong hiring' in all markets and segments, he said.

Ackermann's medium-term goal is return on equity before tax of 25 percent. This would be a good level, also compared with the world's other big banks, he said.