- Heiko Fink and Niko Hofmann join the board as of April 1
- Strategic course set for fiscal year 25/26, focus on market entry in the USA
Management consultancy Horváth has appointed long-standing partners Heiko Fink and Niko Hofmann to its four-member board team, with effect as of April 1, 2025. As Chief Sales Officer (CSO), Heiko Fink will provide new impulses for business development and market presence and will be responsible for the consulting divisions "Strategy and Transformation" and "Operations". Niko Hofmann, partner in Controlling and Finance, will take on the role of CFO in the new financial year 2025/2026. Hofmann will also assume the role of CIO, responsible for IT and, on the client side, for the customer segment “Manufacturing Industries”.
"With Heiko Fink and Niko Hofmann, we will have two new board members who will perfectly complement the management team with their expertise and personality," says Helmut Ahr, Horváth CEO. Helmut Ahr will continue to be responsible for the "Controlling & Finance" as well as "Digital Transformation" solution portfolio. Stefan Hiendlmeier will continue in his role as Chief People Officer and will also be responsible for the customer segment “Service Industries”. Altfrid Neugebauer, former CFO, will leave the board at his own request at the end of March after ten years. As a partner, he will return to the operational business, where he will use his many years of experience to take over the "Retail, Media, and Consumer Goods" industry center. Axel Borcherding, former CIO and COO, will also be leaving the board team on his own request until the end of September – after 20 years with the company, during which he made a significant contribution to the company's growth in various roles.
New board members have shaped Horváth's success story for more than 20 years
Heiko Fink has been shaping Horváth's success story since 2004, when he joined the management consultancy as a consultant after completing his studies in international business and was elected as a partner in 2016. At Horváth, Fink primarily implemented holistic transformation and optimization projects for multinational companies in various industries. He developed today's "Strategy and Transformation" division into one of the management consultancy's largest competence centers. In addition, Fink is the co-founder of the renowned annual international "CxO Priorities" study.
Niko Hofmann started his career at Horváth back in 2002. He has played a key role in shaping the “Controlling & Finance” division over the past two decades. Furthermore, the newly appointed CFO has led the consultancy’s business units "Management Accounting & Operational Control" and "Treasury" and has also been the Managing Director of Horváth 4G Beteiligungs GmbH, holding of the Horváth AG.
Strategic course set for fiscal year 25/26
Despite challenging market conditions, the management consultancy successfully achieved an average growth of ten percent per annum over the last three years, including the fiscal years 2024/2025, which ends in March. “We will continue to consistently implement our strategy of holistically supporting our clients in their transformations and plan for significant growth in the coming fiscal year,” says Horváth CEO Helmut Ahr. “In this context, our recent acquisition in the interim management sector has also fully paid off.”
The revenues of the subsidiary interim-x, with which Horváth temporarily places executives and senior experts in addition to management consulting, have increased significantly with double digit growth compared to the previous year. In the core business of management consulting, the consulting fields “Sustainable Finance” and “Digital Transformation” recorded above-average growth in the past twelve months. In terms of industries, Horváth was able to achieve significant growth particularly in the areas of “Energy, Environment and Telecommunication,” “Industrial Goods and High Tech,” and “Transportation, Travel & Logistics.” The consulting business is also growing in double digits in the “Defense” sector.
“As growth regions, Austria and the Nordic countries stand out with a 30 percent increase of revenues each,” says Ahr. In addition to the subsidiary in Copenhagen (Denmark), new offices have been established in Gothenburg and Stockholm.
Internationally, Horváth aims to further expand the US business. "With our locations in New York, Chicago, and Atlanta, we support our customers in the increasingly strategically important US market. The US is now the No. 1 export market for German economy. Many direct investments are made here. The current intensification of trade conflicts and the discussion on the introduction of further tariffs are accelerating this development. We are helping our clients in the US to overcome the associated challenges and see them as opportunities," says Horváth CEO Helmut Ahr.
Photos for editorial use (source: Horváth AG):
Niko Hofmann: https://hrvth.com/3QIoNZh
Heiko Fink: https://hrvth.com/3Xlg176
Complete Management Board as of April 1: https://hrvth.com/41JTZNT (from left to right: Stefan Hiendlmeier, Niko Hofmann, Helmut Ahr, Heiko Fink)