Kai Bald was hot-foot from a Berlin technology platform conference organised by online fashion retailer Zalando when we meet on the top floor of Deutsche Asset Management’s new offices in London’s Victoria.

It may seem like an odd choice of event for someone who spends his day job in asset management but Bald, who became head of digital at the German bank’s fund arm in 2014, is keen to draw inspiration from outside his own industry and believes asset managers can learn a lot from online retailers and how they use technology to reach customers.