Status: Delegated
Registry Provider: KSRegistry
Type: Brand TLD

More information:

.pohl is a Brand TLD that was proposed in ICANN's New gTLD Program. The successful applicant is Deutsche Vermögensberatung Aktiengesellschaft DVAG.[1] .pohl was delegated to the Root Zone of the DNS on the 27th September, 2014, completing the successful application for the string.[2]


Application Details edit

The following is excerpted from the applicant's response to question #18:

"Professor Reinfried Pohl, the founder of DVAG, one of Germany’s leading investment advisory companies, built the DVAG company on the core values of outstanding customer service and timely and expert advice. Throughout his distinguished career, a brief outline of which is included herein, Mr. Pohl has been an innovator in the field of investment management, and has revolutionized the way in which such financial services are provided to DVAG’s many clients.

In 1970 Dr. Pohl founded the first asset management company, under the name BonnFinanz AG, in the city of Bonn. In 1973, he went on to found the Association of German Investment Advisers, or “Bundesverband Deutscher Vermögensberater”. He served as the President of this Association from its founding until 2009, and continues to serve as its Honorary Chairman.

In 1975, he founded the “Allgemeine Vermögensberatung AG” (General Financial Advisory Corp.), which has its headquarters in Frankfurt am Main. Since 1983, this company has been known as Deutsche Vermögensberatung AG (German Financial Advisory), the industry-leading corporation it is today. The Deutsche Vermögensberatung AG (DVAG) corporation represents the culmination of Mr. Pohl’s extensive business and financial knowledge, bringing together all of his skills, expertise and industry-knowledge for the benefit of DVAG’s many clients. His leadership has helped make DVAG one of the greatest financial advisory companies in the world, and his core values continue to be strongly reflected in the company’s daily activities.

Mr. Pohl is also the recipient of a number of distinguished awards and honors. Some of these achievements include the receipt of the Commanderʹs Cross of Burgenland Austria in 1997, the Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1998, receipt of the title of Honorary Senator of the Philipps-University Marburg in 1998.

In 2009, he founded the Anneliese Pohl Foundation in honor of his wife, Anneliese Pohl. The foundation is dedicated to advancing cancer research and supports the Anneliese Pohl Psychosocial Cancer Counseling Center.


B. Mr. Pohl and the Foundation of DVAG

In founding the DVAG corporation in 1975, he established the company as the leader within in the German-speaking financial markets, dedicated to asset management and the provision of financial advice to individuals, small businesses, SMEs and large businesses. Mr. Pohl devised, created and developed the concept known as “Allfinanz” (Total Finance). Allfinanz means, quite succinctly, the provision of all necessary client financial services in one place. Through this concept, DVAG has developed its “total” approach to financial management, and provides its clients with comprehensive investment and wealth management advice.

Mr. Pohl’s two sons, Reinfried Pohl Jr. and Andreas Pohl, are also successful businessmen in their own rights. Mr. Reinfried Pohl Jr. is the Executive Director of Deutsche Vermögensberatung Holding GmbH, and the Chief Representative of Deutsche Vermögensberatung AG. He is also a member of the Supervisory Boards of Generali Holding Vienna AG, AachenMünchener Lebensversicherung AG, Deutsche Bausparkasse Badenia AG and Advocard Rechtsschutzversicherung AG. Further, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of Assicurazioni Generali in 2010. Mr. Andreas Pohl serves as the Managing Director of DVAG and is a Member of the Management Board for Deutsche Hypothekenbank AG.

The history of Mr. Pohl´s achievements, and the achievements of his family members, is a key element of the successful brand DVAG. Quite simply, the name Pohl is a central component of the DVAG brand, tradition, and history, and is representative of the company’s values. Thus, the DVAG corporation seeks to leverage the Pohl name in its general marketing and branding strategy, by communicating its strong core values and providing information about its founder and the history of the DVAG brand through the “.POHL” TLD.


C. DVAG, the Continuing Tradition

As detailed above, the DVAG corporation was founded by Mr. Pohl and began as a family business focused on superior customer service and effective wealth enhancement strategies. The company has greatly expanded during the past highly successful 36 years and now offers services in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and has retained its strong commitment to client satisfaction. The current assets of Deutsche Vermögensberatung are in excess of $581 million, and the company maintains 3,100 offices and directorates and has more than 5,5 million private clients. DVAG is Germany’s leading financial consulting company, and a strong leader in the investment services industry of Europe.

DVAG provides investment consulting services through 37,000 commercial agents within the meaning of § 84 Handelsgesetzbuch (the German Code of Commercial Law). These commercial agents act independently, on a commission basis, but are assisted by DVAG by providing them with a common corporate identity and marketing platform, IT-Infrastructure, accounting settlement systems and comprehensive, quality education and training.


D. The “.POHL” TLD

DVAG intends to use this new TLD space to provide interested members of the Internet community with access to information concerning its founder and the company’s core values. The space will be organized in an intuitive, easy-to-navigate matter, making the information provided therein accessible to Internet visitors. Examples of some anticipated second-level uses instrumental to the structure of the TLD space, may be as follows:

“history.POHL”, “values.POHL”, “tradition.POHL”, “family.POHL” and “FIRSTNAME.POHL” These second level registrations may be used to provide information about DVAG’s values, corporate history and tradition.

“stiftung.POHL” This domain, and others like it may be used to inform Internet users about the Anneliese Pohl Foundation, which provides funding for cancer research and the Anneliese Pohl Psychosocial Cancer Counseling Center. As indicated above, the Foundation was established by Mr. Pohl in honor of his late wife, and the German word “stiftung” means “foundation” in English.

“allfinanz.POHL” This domain name may be used to provide in-depth information about the innovative Allfinanz “one-stop-shopping” asset management concept, and how the idea was developed.

Internet users will thus benefit from the new space through the easy location of information relating to DVAG’s history, its illustrative founder, and the charitable endeavors connected with the company and the Pohl family. Moreover, as Mr. Pohl remains an active member of the German investment market, and as a major philanthropist, it is natural that his upcoming endeavors will be showcased within the TLD space. Internet users will find the space a natural location to search for further information concerning DVAG’s corporate history and the values that underlie its success.

The “.POHL” TLD will be managed under the direct control of DVAG. The TLD to follow a single-registrant model, wherein all registrations within the space are held by the DVAG company itself.

DVAG envisages the TLD to follow a single-registrant model, wherein all registrations within the space are held by the DVAG company itself. DVAG’s appropriate corporate divisions or other affiliated entities may apply to the Legal department of DVAG to request authorization to license such registrations for their own use. DVAG shall review such requests and, in its sole discretion, may grant such licenses on a case-by-case basis. In all cases, DVAG shall monitor the use of all ʺ.POHLʺ domain names to ensure that the content of the associated websites remains current and appropriate to the ʺ.POHLʺ space, and does not violate third parties’ rights."[3]

Contract Signed edit

On the 23rd June 2014, Deutsche Vermögensberatung Aktiengesellschaft DVAG received a Registry Agreement signed by ICANN for .pohl after passing the Initial Evaluation.[4]

Delegation edit

.pohl was delegated to the Root Zone of the DNS on the 27th September, 2014, completing the successful application for the string.[5]

References edit