Werner is a corporate-finance expert and one of the leaders of S&CF Insights, McKinsey’s center of competence for financial and capital-markets analysis, M&A, and valuation. He also leads the firm’s work in investor relations and investor communications.
Werner advises teams and clients on in-depth financial analyses, corporate and business unit valuation, M&A, capital structure, dividend policy, investor relations, and capital-market diagnostics to identify, value, and prioritize corporate strategies. He works across all industries and has deep experience in the high tech, industrial, transportation, and pharmaceutical sectors. He currently focuses most of his work and research on the impact of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, and the energy transition on corporate value and the recognition of this value in capital markets.
Examples of Werner’s recent client work include assessing the value impact of moving to net zero for several chemicals and oil and gas companies, a portfolio review for a high-tech company that resulted in the divestiture of a business unit and significant change in its capital-investment policy, preparation of an investor day for the new CEO of a European client, and M&A target screening for an industrial company seeking growth in the energy transition.
Beyond Werner’s direct client work, he has written extensively on value creation, investor relations, and M&A. He is a member of the editorial board for McKinsey on Finance, the firm’s quarterly publication on corporate-finance topics. His current research focuses on value creation and communication from ESG initiatives.
Born and raised in Germany, Werner has worked in several McKinsey offices, including in Berlin, Boston, Frankfurt, and New York, throughout his career.