Carola Gräfin von Schmettow


Countess Carola von Schmettow is a German businesswoman and the chief executive officer of HSBC Trinkaus.

Early life

Carola Krautwurst was born on 23 February 1964 in Düsseldorf. Her father was a civil engineer and her mother was a construction technician. She studied classical music with a concentration on vocal performance at the Robert Schumann Hochschule, graduating in 1989. She later attended the University of Düsseldorf, graduating in 1992 with a degree in mathematics and physical chemistry.

Career

Von Schmettow started her career at HSBC Trinkhaus in 1992 and served as a board member since 2006. In 2014, HSBC named her as Chief Executive of its German unit HSBC Trinkaus, replacing Andreas Schmitz.
In addition to her role at HSBC Trinkhaus, Von Schmettow serves on the board of directors for HSBC France, VV Versicherungsverein des Bankgewerbes, ThyssenKrupp. She also serves as chairperson of the management board for Burckhardt Compression, as well as the chairperson of the supervisory board at HSBC Trinkaus Investment Managers and at Internationale Kapitalanlagegesellschaft. She previously worked as the chief executive officer of HSBC Investements Deutschland GmbH. She is one of the Germany's first female business executives in finance.

Other activities

Corporate boards

She is married to Count Johannes von Schmettow and has five children.