immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: Generalversammlung

  • Swiss Chamber of Real Estate Agents strengthens quality standards

    Swiss Chamber of Real Estate Agents strengthens quality standards

    The Swiss Chamber of Real Estate Agents remains on course for success, as was announced at this year’s General Meeting in Zurich. The Board of Directors proudly announced an increase in the number of members to a total of 125. This growth underlines the members’ commitment to the SMK’s high quality standards.

    To become a member and receive the coveted quality label, estate agents must undergo strict quality management procedures and demonstrate their expertise in regular audits.

    As part of the Swiss Real Estate Association, the SMK brings together professional and independent estate agents who are committed to quality, continuous training and fairness in their advice. By establishing quality standards, the SMK actively campaigns against dubious business practices in the property sector.

    Ruedi Tanner, President of SMK, emphasises the importance of quality standards and the added value of the SMK quality label for members: “Our members are characterised by their comprehensive expertise and their commitment to the highest standards. The SMK quality label provides orientation in the market and enables our members to clearly differentiate themselves. At the same time, they can strengthen the trust of their customers with their certificate. The continuous growth in our membership is a direct result of our quality strategy.”

    The Board of Directors, consisting of experienced personalities from the property sector, was confirmed at the Annual General Meeting and continues to promote quality and professionalism in the estate agent sector.

  • 159th General Meeting of the CCIG

    159th General Meeting of the CCIG

    For the first time in its history, the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services (CCIG) will be chaired by two women entrepreneurs. Laurence de la Serna, Managing Director of Jean Gallay SA, will be chairing the Chamber for the third time. Isabelle Harsch, CEO of Henri Harsch HH, until now a member of the CCIG Committee, will take on the role of Vice-President.

    In his speech, Vincent Subilia, Director General of the CCIG, warmly thanked Gilles Rufenacht, outgoing Chairman, for his remarkable commitment and looked forward to working with two exceptional women. Gilles Rufenacht will shortly be taking up his new position as CEO of Geneva Airport.

    The CCIG General Meeting also appointed François Rohrbach, Managing Director and Director of Human Resources for Switzerland at dsm-firmenich, to the Committee (executive body).

    In addition, the General Meeting appointed the following people to the Economic Council (advisory body) for the sectors:

    • retail, Grégory Décaillet, General Manager, Migros Genève,
    • business Advisory Services, Eric Duvoisin, International Tax Partner, Ernst & Young SA,
    • freight forwarding, Thierry Moreno, CEO and founder, NV Logistics,
    • chemicals, pharmaceuticals, fragrances and multinationals, Roch Ogier, CEO, OM Pharma,
    • banking, finance, fintech, Denis Pittet, Managing Partner, Lombard Odier Group,
    • retail, Thierry Steininger, Tax Director, Maus Frères SA,
    • retail, Joël Vellas, Managing Partner, Bike Sold.
  • Clara Millard Dereudre proposed as new member of the SBB Board of Directors

    Clara Millard Dereudre proposed as new member of the SBB Board of Directors

    Clara Millard Dereudre has been Director of Smart City at Service Industriels de Genève (SIG) and a member of the General Management since 2021. Her team works on engineering projects, shared services and solutions for smart cities. She is also responsible for IT and data management at SIG.

    Clara Millard Dereudre (52) has excellent knowledge and experience in the areas of operational and strategic marketing, sustainability strategy, innovation, digitalisation, cybersecurity and energy. She is French and has lived in Switzerland for 18 years, currently in Prangins (VD).

    After graduating from the École des hautes études commerciales du Nord Lille (EDHEC, FR) in 1994, Clara Millard Dereudre worked for the Dow Chemical Company for 25 years, including in Zurich as Global Senior Director Marketing, Strategy & Sustainability and in Indianapolis, USA, as Global Director Corporate Strategy and North America Director Sales & Marketing Operations. During her last position at Dow Chemical, she was appointed Senior Corporate Marketing Fellow and received several awards for innovation and sustainability.

    The Federal Council today approved the SBB Board of Directors’ nomination. Clara Millard Dereudre will be elected at the SBB Annual General Meeting on 24 April 2024 and will take office upon her election.

    She succeeds Alexandra Post, who has been a member of the SBB Board of Directors since 2012 and cannot stand for re-election due to the twelve-year term limit.

    The SBB Board of Directors would like to thank Alexandra Post for her great commitment and valuable collaboration over the past few years.

  • Changes to the Board of Directors and Group Management

    Changes to the Board of Directors and Group Management

    In addition, Adam Keswick will not stand for re-election as a member of the Board of Directors. The decision is based on his assessment that he is currently unable to adequately fulfil his obligations to Schindler due to time overlaps with Jardine Matheson’s Board meetings. All other members of the Board of Directors will stand for re-election at the Annual General Meeting on 19 March 2024. The Board of Directors has decided to postpone the age limit for Alfred N. Schindler and Luc Bonnard in accordance with the exception clause in the Executive Board regulations.

    Assuming his re-election, Tobias B. Staehelin will succeed Erich Ammann as a new member of the Supervisory and Strategy Committee.

    The Board of Directors has appointed Hugo Martinho (1971) to succeed Tobias B. Staehelin as a member of the Executive Board, responsible for Human Resources, with effect from 1 April 2024. Hugo Martinho has worked for Schindler since 2003 in various positions in Europe and Asia. He has been Head of Human Resources Europe North since 2022. Hugo Martinho holds a degree in law from the University of Coimbra, Portugal.

  • Strategy idea “Limmat Valley City” shows potential

    Strategy idea “Limmat Valley City” shows potential

    Thomas Sevcik entwickelte in den letzten Monaten eine Strategieidee für eine zukünftige Limmattalstadt. Er erkennt im Limmattal eine ausgeprägte Modernität und eine Stadt, die in erster Linie durch die Menschen geformt wird. Ausserdem hat er noch viele Vorschläge für eine der interessantesten und dynamischsten Regionen im Land. Denn: Was im Limmattal heute und morgen passiert, betrifft übermorgen die ganze Schweiz.

    Das Limmattal steht exemplarisch für den Wandel von Agglomerationen in der ganzen Schweiz und für die enormen planerischen Herausforderungen, welcher dieser mit sich bringt. Für eine umsichtige Raumentwicklung braucht es politischen Willen, eine breite Diskussion und vor allem ein gemeinsames regionales Verständnis.

    Den Wandel kreativ gestalten
    An der Generalversammlung der regionalen Standortförderung Limmatstadt vom 15. August 2023 stellte Thomas Sevcik den rund 200 Gästen seine Strategieidee erstmals vor. Der Autor hat viele mutige Ideen für die Region. Zu den Prägendsten gehören eine Hochschule, der Ausbau der Shopping-Raststätte Würenlos zu einem Mobilitäts- und Kommunikationshub sowie die Neuplanung des Rangierbahnhofs. Die Strategie zeigt auf, wie viel möglich ist – aber auch, wie viel noch getan werden muss.

  • Change of baton at the SVSM

    Change of baton at the SVSM

    For eight years, Beny Ruhstaller shaped the umbrella organisation of Swiss location and business development agencies as president, and he had already been a member of the board since 2013. But he had his first contact with the SVSM much earlier: “In 2007, I received the first SVSM award for my mandate as managing director of the Glattpark area marketing Ruhstaller is not a classic location promoter. Rather, he has represented the real estate industry’s point of view in the association by sitting on the SVSM board and, from 2015, as president. It has always been important to him to bring the real estate industry and location promotion closer together. Ruhstaller will be succeeded as president of the association by Remo Daguati, owner of LOC AG, and Stefan Otziger, managing director of the Thun economic region, will take over as vice-president.

    As president of the SVSM, Beny Ruhstaller benefited from a large network that he built up during his decades of activity in the real estate industry. He became particularly well known as “Mister Glattpark”: as Managing Director of the Glattpark Area Marketing – now IGG Glattpark – 21 years ago, he built up an organisation that was unique in Switzerland at the time. The association of several property owners aimed at the overall marketing of the area, which was then still called Oberhauserriet. In the following 21 years, Ruhstaller not only acted as a mediator between landowners, representatives of the city of Opfikon, media representatives and the public, but also sat on juries for individual building projects, set up a showroom with a large model and visualisations of the new district or founded the IG Boulevard. Ruhstaller took a lot of time for lectures and guided tours of the new district: he gave about 1,000 of them. Ruhstaller also recently gave up his mandate as managing director of IGG Glattpark.

    Furthermore, Beny Ruhstaller made a name for himself in the field of real estate marketing – at a time when this discipline did not actually exist in Switzerland: Together with Roman H. Bolliger, he wrote the non-fiction book “Immobilienmarketing: Mehrwert für Liegenschaften” (Real Estate Marketing: Added Value for Real Estate), which has become a standard work and textbook and has sold over 10,000 copies to date. Ruhstaller was active as a consultant and marketer in numerous real estate projects with his company acasa Immobilienmarketing and was involved as a lecturer and speaker on the subject.

  • Change at the operational helm of FRZ Zurich Airport Region

    Change at the operational helm of FRZ Zurich Airport Region

    Peter Spörri, Mayor of Wallisellen and FRZ board member, welcomed the numerous guests on Thursday, 8 June, in the Doktorhaus hall in Wallisellen. He introduced the town of Wallisellen in a very likeable way with a video. Christian Jott Jenny and his music band provided music and entertainment. Jenny is a tenor, entertainer and politician (mayor of St. Moritz). He is also described as a “jack of all trades”.

    The first highlight of the General Assembly was the farewell to Christoph Lang, Managing Director FRZ 2011-2023, with words of thanks from Honorary President René Huber (he praised his courage and diligence) and Cantonal Councillor Ernst Stocker (“Christoph Lang packs a punch”). André Ingold presented Christoph Lang with the certificate of honorary membership. He will also continue to work as a brand ambassador for FRZ.

    Added value through networking and location development
    Then the stage belonged to Rahel Kindermann Leuthard. The designated managing director officially took over the operational management of FRZ on this day. According to Kindermann, the organisation has transformed itself from a start-up to an established company in its ten-year success story. With 1,000 decision-makers from around 800 companies and 14 cities and municipalities, FRZ is a great success story, she said, in which it is “not reinventing the wheel” but merely “adjusting the compass”. FRZ should create lasting added value through networking and location development in Switzerland’s most attractive economic area. FRZ wants to organise high-profile events and offer professional services in order to achieve a high level of awareness among the target groups and identification with the airport region.

    Rahel Kindermann Leuthard wants to further develop the FRZ Zurich Airport Region in the existing fields of action around networking and location promotion. Based on this, she defined the following six key topics: Digital Hub, Ecological and Social Sustainability, Age and Gender Diversity, Promotion of Young Talent and Labour Shortage, Mobility and Leadership. “This is the basis of our strategy with mission, vision and the Purpose, our North Star, developed together with the Board.”

    Attachment to the airport
    Rahel Kindermann Leuthard most recently worked for the City of Zurich, Social Services and Operations, where she managed 70 employees in the Coaching and Education department. From 2005 to 2021, she worked for Flughafen Zürich AG: She was responsible for all major events at Zurich Airport, such as the Experience Weekends and “70 Years of the Airport” with around 70,000 visitors. She was largely responsible for setting up the visitor service from 2005 onwards. Kindermann was project manager of the spectator terrace B at Zurich Airport, which is considered a tourist magnet and visiting card of Zurich Airport with more than 320,000 visitors annually. Rahel Kindermann Leuthard was also co-founder of “Zauberpark”, a music and light festival in the Circle Park at Zurich Airport. In addition, from 2009 to 2019, she was a team leader in the care team of Swiss International Air Lines for the care of passengers and relatives in crisis situations.

  • Rahel Kindermann Leuthard is the new head of FRZ Zurich Airport Region

    Rahel Kindermann Leuthard is the new head of FRZ Zurich Airport Region

    The FRZ Zurich Airport Region has a new managing director: At the 11th general meeting, Rahel Kindermann Leuthard took over the operational management of the FRZ, which is both a location developer and a business network. She thus succeeds Christoph Lang, who will continue to work as brand ambassador for FRZ.

    As Kindermann Leuthard emphasised in her speech, according to a FRZ statement, the organisation with its approximately 1,000 decision-makers from around 800 companies and 14 cities and municipalities is “a great success story”. At its helm, she does not want to reinvent the wheel, but merely “adjust the compass”. She has named the Digital Hub, ecological and social sustainability, age and gender diversity, promotion of young talent and labour shortage, mobility and leadership as her main topics.

    Kindermann Leuthard most recently headed the Coaching and Education Department at the City of Zurich with 70 employees. Before that, she worked for Flughafen Zürich AG and the airline Swiss, among others.

    The 187 voters approved all agenda items of the FRZ. The budget was also approved. in 2022, the FRZ reported a 10 per cent growth in membership. Total income increased by 21 per cent in the year under review. Membership fees from cities and municipalities grew by 6.8 per cent, those from companies by 10.3 per cent. Income from sponsoring, annual partnerships and member events increased strongly by 46.6 per cent.

  • Annual General Meeting approves a distribution of CHF 7.00 per share

    Annual General Meeting approves a distribution of CHF 7.00 per share

    In addition to approving the 2022 financial statements, the Annual General Meeting also approved a distribution of a total of CHF 7.00 per registered share. This will take place on 27 April 2023 and will consist of an ordinary dividend of CHF 3.50 (gross) per registered share (CHF 2.275 net after deduction of withholding tax) and a distribution of reserves from capital contributions of CHF 3.50 per registered share (ex-date 25 April 2023).

    The shareholders also re-elected Ralph-Thomas Honegger as Chairman of the Board of Directors. With Philipp Gmür, Andrea Sieber, Peter Spuhler, Olivier Steimer, Thomas Stenz, Jürg Stöckli and Anja Wyden Guelpa, the Annual General Meeting also confirmed the re-election of all other members of the Board.

    The General Assembly also approved the amendments to the Articles of Association proposed by the Board of Directors, with the exception of agenda item 6.2. The shareholders thus rejected, among other things, the possibility of holding a virtual General Assembly.

    The 25th Annual General Meeting of Allreal Holding AG will take place on 19 April 2024 in Zurich.

    www.allreal.ch

  • Annual General Meeting of Zug Estates Holding AG

    Annual General Meeting of Zug Estates Holding AG

    The Annual General Meeting decided to distribute a total of CHF 20.9 million to the shareholders for the financial year 2022. The ordinary gross dividend subject to withholding tax per class A registered share amounts to CHF 4.10 and CHF 41.00 per class B registered share. After payment of the Swiss withholding tax of 35%, a net dividend of CHF 2.67 per class A registered share and CHF 26.65 per class B registered share remains.

    All members of the Board of Directors proposed for re-election were confirmed for another year of office. Armin Meier did not stand for re-election. Joëlle Zimmerli, owner and managing director of Zimraum GmbH, a social science planning office, was elected as a new member of the Board of Directors.

    Joëlle Zimmerli

    Dr Beat Schwab was also confirmed as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Johannes Stöckli (previously) and Annelies Häcki Buhofer (newly) were elected to the Personnel and Compensation Committee. In a consultative vote, the General Assembly declared itself in agreement with the Compensation Report and approved the compensation paid to the members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Board.

    The General Meeting also approved all amendments to the Articles of Association, i.e. the anchoring of sustainability in the Articles of Association, the use of electronic tools for communication with shareholders, the possibility of holding General Meetings virtually, the additional amounts for new Executive Board members, the reduction of the maximum permissible additional mandates of members of the Board of Directors as well as various formal adjustments to the new law.

  • Beny Ruhstaller steps down as President of the SVSM – Remo Daguati becomes his successor

    Beny Ruhstaller steps down as President of the SVSM – Remo Daguati becomes his successor

    Beny Ruhstaller had been planning his resignation for a long time: “It was important to me not to leave at the drop of a hat, but to prepare my succession well,” explained the outgoing president at the SVSM’s general assembly, which took place in the atmospheric garden room of Villa Boveri in Baden. Ruhstaller shaped the umbrella organisation of Swiss location and business development agencies as president for eight years, and he had already been a member of the board since 2013. But he had his first contact with the SVSM much earlier, as he recalled in his review at the general assembly: “I was able to accept the first SVSM award for innovative projects in location management in 2007: for my mandate as managing director of the Glattpark area marketing.” As luck would have it, he also resigned from this very mandate these days after 21 years as managing director.

    Linking real estate and locations
    Beny Ruhstaller is not a classic location promoter. Rather, he has represented the viewpoint of the real estate industry in the association by sitting on the board of the SVSM and, from 2015, as president. It has always been his concern to bring the real estate industry and location promotion closer together. He has succeeded in this in various ways, for example in the area of membership structure or within the framework of a cooperation with the magazine “immo!nvest”. Furthermore, under Ruhstaller’s presidency, a guided visit day to Expo Real, Europe’s largest trade fair for real estate and locations in Munich, took place several times and at the beginning of this year the SVSM participated for the first time in Immo23, the Swiss trade fair for real estate investments. Ruhstaller also always placed a lot of emphasis on the “Swiss” in the association’s name, for example with a balanced regional representation on the board or events at changing locations. The professionalisation of the sector in the sense of a well-founded education and training offer was another concern of Ruhstaller’s: he was not only active himself as a speaker in various courses, but also active in the development of new offers. During the Corona pandemic, he also succeeded in developing new event formats together with a committed board team and making the association fit for the future.

    Remo Daguati elected new President
    The General Assembly in Baden unanimously elected Remo Daguati, a member of the SVSM Board since 2021 and Vice-President since 2022, as the new President of the SVSM. Remo Daguati is the owner of LOC AG in Zurich and looks after location promotion organisations and site developments throughout the DACH region. Before becoming self-employed, he was in charge of national location promotion (Invest in Switzerland) as a member of the management board of Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE) until the beginning of 2016. Stefan Otziger, SVSM board member since 2018 and managing director of the Thun economic region, was elected as vice president. During the general assembly, the outgoing president Ruhstaller was also able to introduce a new sponsor: Mettler2Invest, an owner-managed, independent real estate development company, supports the SVSM in addition to the previous sponsors Sunrise and EKZ. Without the valuable support of its sponsors, the SVSM would not be able to maintain its current range of services – so a big thank you at this point.

    Input presentations on site development and vacancy management
    Following the general meeting, the participants were treated to two practical input presentations on the topics of site development and vacancy management as part of the hybrid specialist event “SVSM Dialogue on Site Management”: Verena Rohrer, Head of Aargau Services Location Promotion, addressed the question of whether large-scale settlements such as that of the pharmaceutical supplier Bachem on the Sisslerfeld are a consequence of cantonal site development – and came to an “indirect yes” as an answer. Majid Parente, managing director and founder of collektiv AG, showed other ways of dealing with vacant commercial properties in city centres: by including and understanding the location and the property, carrying out an in-depth analysis and pursuing a participatory approach.

  • The Swiss proptech company Immowise offers its solution in German-speaking Switzerland

    The Swiss proptech company Immowise offers its solution in German-speaking Switzerland

    Condominiums in Switzerland: An industry that only gains from digitization
    Swiss real estate is feeling the direct effects of the turn to digitization, as the most important players in the industry have accelerated the pace of increasing efficiency every year. Switzerland, with its 1.4 million owners* (including more than 445,000** condominiums), ultimately represents an important market for Immowise.

    Immowise's digital solution is easy to implement and adapts to any type of condominium. By connecting to the most important ERPs used in the industry, the platform is fully integrated into the digitization strategy initiated by the agencies. The lean cost management is also suitable for small structures and self-governing condominium associations.

    An office in Zurich serving condominium owners' associations in German-speaking Switzerland
    With the office opening in Zurich, Immowise wants to offer administrations, self-managed condominium associations or independent local administrators a solution to simplify and reduce the workload with a platform that has already proven itself in western Switzerland. By 2022, around 20 general meetings for over 500 condominium owners had already been held. Immowise wants to cover all Swiss regions by 2023. In addition, the platform will be expanded with additional modules such as the internal news service for condominium owners, the comparison of cost estimates and budget management.

    Immowise's development in German-speaking Switzerland is rounded off with the appointment of Teresa Astorina as Director, based in the Zurich region. As a recognized expert in the real estate sector, in which she has been active for over 25 years, she takes over the proptech leadership with the declared goal of converting the management of condominium associations throughout Switzerland using digital technology.

    Sebastian Chiappero, Managing Director of Wise.swiss, Immowise's parent company, adds: "20 months after the founding of Immowise, the appointment of a director marks a further step towards ensuring the nationwide rollout of Immowise. I am very pleased that Teresa will be part of this Position has joined us. Her many years of experience in the real estate industry and her skills in the area of strategy development are all plus points for Immowise". Among other things, she was also active in the management or in leading positions in companies such as Credit Suisse, m3 Real Estate, Privera or EPM.

    Teresa Astorina emphasizes: "The future of the real estate industry lies in digitization. I am very proud to be able to accompany the development of a "Swiss made" solution that offers a real service in the management of condominiums in Switzerland."

    Portrait of Teresa Astorina here for download

    About Immowise
    Immowise was founded in 2021 and is the first Swiss solution for the digitization of condominium meetings. Developed and hosted in Switzerland, this application helps administrators and condominium owners prepare, manage and follow up on meetings. It complements the wise.swiss software from EPwise AG, which was launched in 2020 and offers public administrations and companies a range of digital communication and event organization tools (eventwise, partnerwise and fundwise). https://wise.swiss/de/immowise/
    Immowise headquarters: Neuchâtel
    Offices: Geneva, Zurich

  • General meeting of Allreal Holding AG approves all motions

    General meeting of Allreal Holding AG approves all motions

    10,584,282 share votes were represented at the General Meeting of Allreal Holding AG, corresponding to 63.8 percent of the share capital or 80.0 percent of the registered share capital with voting rights.

    The annual financial statements for 2021 were approved by the Annual General Meeting and a distribution totaling CHF 7.00 per registered share on April 14, 2022 was approved. This will be distributed in the form of an ordinary dividend of CHF 3.50 (gross) per registered share (CHF 2.275 net after deduction of withholding tax). In addition, a distribution from capital contribution reserves of CHF 3.50 per registered share (ex-date April 12, 2022) was approved.

    The shareholders also re-elected Ralph-Thomas Honegger as Chairman of the Board of Directors. With Philipp Gmür, Andrea Sieber, Peter Spuhler, Olivier Steimer, Thomas Stenz and Jürg Stöckli, the General Assembly also confirmed the re-election of the previous members of the body. The Annual General Meeting also elected Anja Wyden Guelpa to the Board of Directors.

    The motions to amend the Articles of Incorporation, such as extending and increasing the authorized capital by a maximum of CHF 1.0 million nominal and reducing the conditional capital to CHF 0.5 million nominal, also met with broad approval.

    The 24th Annual General Meeting of Allreal Holding AG will take place on April 21, 2023 in Zurich.

  • Swiss Prime Site – General Assembly approves all proposals of the Board of Directors

    Swiss Prime Site – General Assembly approves all proposals of the Board of Directors

    Approval of the 2021 annual financial statements and the distribution of CHF 3.35
    The 2021 financial statements were approved by the General Assembly. The distribution of CHF 3.35 per eligible registered share proposed by the Board of Directors was also accepted. This consists of an ordinary dividend from the distributable profit of CHF 1,675 gross per registered share (CHF 1,089 net after deduction of 35% withholding tax) and will be paid on March 30, 2022 (ex-date: March 28, 2022) as well as a distribution free of withholding tax from a capital reduction through a nominal value reduction of CHF 1,675 per registered share. The corresponding payment of the same is expected to take place on June 13, 2022 (planned ex-date: June 9, 2022).

    Approval of the remuneration of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee
    The Annual General Meeting approved Swiss Prime Site AG’s 2021 remuneration report in a consultative vote. In addition, shareholders approved the total compensation for 2022 for the members of the Board of Directors and for the Group Executive Committee in two separate binding votes.

    Election of Brigitte Walter to the Board of Directors and confirmation of the members of the Board of Directors
    Brigitte Walter was newly elected to the Swiss Prime Site Board of Directors. The shareholders voted to re-elect Board members Barbara A. Knoflach and Gabrielle Nater-Bass as well as Board members Ton Büchner, Christopher M. Chambers, Mario F. Seris and Thomas Studhalter for a further term of office until the 2023 Annual General Meeting re-elected Chairman of the Board of Directors. The Audit Committee consists of Thomas Studhalter (Chairman), Christopher M. Chambers and Brigitte Walter and the Nomination and Compensation Committee consists of Gabrielle Nater-Bass (Chairman), Christopher M. Chambers and Barbara A. Knoflach. The Investment Committee consists of Barbara A. Knoflach (Chairwoman), Mario F. Seris and Brigitte Walter. The new Sustainability Committee consists of Ton Büchner (President) and Barbara A. Knoflach.

  • Henriette Wendt elected to the CKW Board of Directors

    Henriette Wendt elected to the CKW Board of Directors

    Due to the measures to combat Covid-19, the 128th CKW General Assembly on January 28, 2022 was held in a small group. The shareholders exercised their voting and election rights in writing to the attention of the independent proxy. They approved the annual report, the consolidated financial statements and the annual financial statements for the 2020/21 financial year. The CKW Group closed the past financial year very successfully with an operating profit of CHF 174.5 million.

    Dividend increase and special dividend
    The net financial assets of the CKW Group increased by a further CHF 35 million to CHF 574 million compared to the previous year. This initial situation and the financial planning for the coming years allow the ordinary dividend to be increased from CHF 3 to CHF 6. In addition, with the conclusion of the energy tariff proceedings and the subsequent compensation for the former transmission grid in the past financial year, CKW has obtained legal certainty in two long-term proceedings. The Board of Directors has therefore decided to propose an additional one-off special dividend of CHF 15 per share to the Annual General Meeting. The shareholders followed the suggestion and approved the dividend increase as well as the special dividend.

    New name: CKW AG instead of Centralschweizerische Kraftwerke AG
    They also elected Henriette Wendt, Chief Operating Officer and member of the Executive Board of the Axpo Group, as the new member of the Board of Directors. She succeeds Michael Schmid, who has resigned from the Board of Directors. As COO of Axpo, Henriette Wendt plays an important role in the strategic and cultural development of the Axpo Group nationally and internationally. Before joining Axpo, Wendt worked for Microsoft Switzerland, where she held the role of Chief Marketing & Operations Officer.

    The General Assembly approved the actions of the members of the Board of Directors and confirmed President Christoph Brand, the government councilors Marcel Schwerzmann (Lucerne) and Dimitri Moretti (Uri), Anita Eckardt, Joris Gröflin and Hansueli Sallenbach for another one-year term as members of the Board of Directors. KPMG AG, Lucerne, was elected as auditor for another year.

    CKW has been operating under this name as a uniform brand on the market for around 5 years and enjoys the trust of customers in and outside of Central Switzerland. This strategy is now continued in the official company name. Centralschweizerische Kraftwerke AG becomes CKW AG. The AGM approved the application in terms of simplification and as a sign of modernization.

    The next General Assembly will take place on Friday, January 27, 2023.

  • Digital tool organizes meetings of co-owners

    Digital tool organizes meetings of co-owners

    Immowise is the first platform for the digitization of general meetings of floor owners and property managers, writes wise.swiss in a press release. The digital tool helps the administrator to digitally design all phases of a general meeting, it says there. The administration of the invitations, the preparation and adjustment of the agenda, the calculation and determination of the quorum as well as the recording of voting results and surveys and the creation of minutes are named as such. In addition, notes and comments on the General Assembly can be recorded with Immowise. Immowise can be adapted to the particular characteristics of co-ownership, writes wise.swiss.

    The young company based in Neuchâtel specializes in the development of digital tools in working life. A number of real estate companies were already among the customers, explains Sebastian Chiappero in the press release: "The concept of a specific platform for managing general meetings was born in 2019 at your request," said the wise.swiss CEO. The coronavirus pandemic also drove implementation.

    Immowise can reduce the time required in all phases of a general assembly by 20 to 30 percent, explains the director responsible for the platform, Gilles von Burg. At the same time, care is taken to ensure data security. "The initial feedback from our customers has been very positive, both for remote and on-site use," says Gilles.

  • Sascha Zahnd is to lead digitalswitzerland

    Sascha Zahnd is to lead digitalswitzerland

    The digitalswitzerland general assembly is called upon to approve a change at the top of the location initiative: Sascha Zahnd is to take over the presidency of the executive committee on July 1, informs digitalswitzerland in a message . The Bernese succeeds Ivo Furrer. Furrer had already announced when he took office that he would give up the presidency after three years in office.

    By the end of 2020, Zahnd was "one of the closest employees of Tesla founder Elon Musk", the message further explains. At Tesla , the designated President of digitalswitzerland had acted as European boss and Vice President Global Supply Chain. Zahnd had previously worked for ETA SA Manufacture Horlogère Suisse and IKEA . He is currently active for mytheresa.com and Valora AG , among others.

    "Sascha Zahnd is one of the most impressive top managers in Switzerland with a lot of international experience," Marc Walder, founder of digitalswitzerland, is quoted in the press release. The designated president of the location initiative stands for “innovation, transformation and entrepreneurship”. According to Walder, digitalswitzerland wants to continue campaigning for the country's digital transformation. Here the pandemic "relentlessly exposed Switzerland's existing weaknesses".

    Ivo Furrer will stay on digitalswitzerland as a member of the board of directors. The vice presidency is to remain with the FDP National Council (SG) and entrepreneur Marcel Dobler.

  • Schächen power plant supplies 3,600 households

    Schächen power plant supplies 3,600 households

    In its first, not quite full year of operation, the Schächen hydropower plant produced 14.8 million kilowatt hours of electricity to supply around 3,300 households. In full operation there will be 3,600 households. The new power plant will thus make an important contribution to the CO2-free supply of electricity from renewable sources, emphasized Werner Jauch, Chairman of the Board of Directors, at the general meeting of KW Schächen AG .

    According to a press release, he also highlighted that two of the three machine groups of the power plant commissioned in November 2019 started work six weeks ahead of schedule. This was not a matter of course, especially in Corona times. "This enabled us to make optimal use of the good water supply in winter and spring 2020."

    In general, the construction work in the middle of the lively Uri basin was “a great challenge”, says Jauch: “The project experienced many ups and downs in a planning and approval marathon of around eight years, and the construction phase was also very demanding.” It turned out to be very demanding however, "definitely worth it to accept and successfully master all challenges up to and including the corona pandemic at KW Schächen".