Silas Schneider will take up his new position on 1 January 2025, joining ABS on 1 October 2024. Mr Schneider brings extensive experience from his previous role as CEO of abonax, where he played a key role in the establishment and successful development of the company over a period of six years.
“We are convinced that Silas Schneider, with his experience and expertise, will lead the company into a continued successful future and look forward to working with him in the future,” commented Daniel Senn, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Abacus.
With the change in top management, Abacus Business Solutions AG is sending a strong signal in favour of continuity and growth. The transition will be carefully planned and executed to ensure the smooth continuation of the company’s business and to successfully master future challenges.
Fabian Linke is moving from Swiss Prime Site Solutions to Swiss Life Asset Managers, where he has worked as Head of Business Development since 2021. Previously, he worked as an expert for property investment products and business development at Global Real Estate at Credit Suisse Asset Management from 2006 to 2015 and from 2018 to 2021. He began his career at Credit Suisse Asset Management in Institutional Sales Switzerland. He holds a degree in Banking and Finance from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and a Master’s degree in Real Estate from the University of Zurich. He is also a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
“I am delighted that in Fabian Linke we have been able to recruit a proven and experienced expert to expand our property activities for the third-party investment business in Switzerland. With his profound expertise in property, finance and markets, he will develop convincing investment solutions for our customers”, says Paolo Di Stefano.
Swiss Life is one of the largest property owners in Switzerland. Assets under management totalled CHF 43.7 billion as at 31 December 2023, of which CHF 12 billion was for third-party clients in Switzerland.
Fabian Linke reports directly to Paolo Di Stefano, Head Real Estate Switzerland, and will be based in Zurich.
In a significant leadership change announcement, the appointment of Marc Giraudon as Co-CEO from 1 January 2024 and sole CEO from 1 July 2024 has been announced. This change follows a decision by the Board of Directors and is subject to FINMA approval.
Marc Giraudon, an expert with extensive experience in property asset management, will replace Hans R. Holdener, co-founder and long-standing CEO of Helvetica. Holdener has announced his intention to relinquish his leadership role in the company, but will continue to serve as co-CEO until Giraudon assumes full responsibility. Holdener will then take up a position in business development to contribute his extensive experience to Helvetica’s future growth and expansion into new markets.
Giraudon, who has been a strategic advisor to Helvetica since the end of 2022, brings a wealth of knowledge from his long career in the property industry. He previously held senior positions at Hines and Langham Hall and holds both a chartered accountancy qualification in the UK and an MBA from London Business School.
Hans Ueli Keller, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Helvetica, praised Holdener’s achievements and emphasised Giraudon’s suitability for the new role. Holdener himself also expresses his conviction that Giraudon is the right choice to lead Helvetica in the changing market conditions. Giraudon looks forward to his new role with enthusiasm and plans to use his experience and expertise to drive the company forward.
Beatrice Bichsel has worked in various functions at SBB Real Estate for twelve years. During this time, she has become familiar with the various facets of the business and has played a decisive role in shaping the division. Beatrice Bichsel has been Head of Facility Management as a member of the Management Board since June 2020 and has been interim Head of SBB Real Estate since Alexander Muhm took over at SBB Freight Traffic. As Head of Facility Management, she has strategically realigned the department, standardised service provision throughout Switzerland and further developed the business processes and organisation.
Beatrice Bichsel will take over as Head of SBB Real Estate on 1 September 2023. Beatrice Bichsel holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in law from the University of Berne and was admitted to the bar of the Canton of Berne in 2008. Most recently she completed an Executive MBA at the University of St. Gallen. She is 41 years old and lives in Gümligen.
“I am delighted that with Beatrice Bichsel we have been able to attract a dynamic, committed and competent leader as part of our internal succession planning. She is very familiar with SBB, the real estate industry and our current challenges,” says SBB CEO Vincent Ducrot.
The Board of Directors and the Management Board wish Beatrice Bichsel much pleasure and success in her new tasks
Alexander Carisch will be the new head of the Dietikon location promotion as of December 1st. According to a media release , Carisch convinced the city council at the September 5 meeting. His innovative spirit, his professional competence and his integrative communication were decisive.
As a former head of urban development and location marketing in the city of Baden and also as head of the location development department in the Canton of Schwyz Economic Office, Carisch has the right experience for the position, according to the statement from the city of Dietikon . Through his previous activities, the newly appointed head of Dietiker Location Promotion is also connected to the Limmattal.
The head of the Dietikon location promotion, Adrian Ebenberger, is retiring after four and a half years in office for reasons of age at the end of 2022.
The Dietikon location promotion submits semi-annual interim reports on activities in the areas of location promotion, economic development and city marketing. The most recently published report from June covering the period from November 2021 to April 2022 highlights the progress made in the Cleantech Hub Dietikon project, which started last autumn 2021, and in the Smart City Dietikon project as particular highlights of this work. Demand for commercial space remains high. There are regularly more rental requests than offers. The number of start-ups and liquidations is said to be relatively constant.
Anne-Marie Loeillet (CH, *1961) graduated from the Languedoc-Roussillon University of Applied Sciences and holds a master's degree in urban planning from the University of Stuttgart. She has worked successfully for various large companies and the public sector in Germany, France and Switzerland over the past 20 years.
Since 2011, as CEO of PCM Opérateur Urbain SA, she has been the driving force behind the development and realization of the Le Quartier de l'Etang residential and business district in Geneva, with an investment volume of around CHF 1.4 billion. Anne-Marie Loeillet takes over the role from Olivier Plan, who sold various real estate companies belonging to Immosynergies Holding Sàrl to Allreal on October 15, 2021. In addition to a first-class portfolio of investment properties with a value of around CHF 500 million and additional development properties with a potential investment volume of more than CHF 700 million, the company also acquired the general contractor Roof SA.
At the beginning of this year you took over the management of location promotion. What measures have you taken to settle in well and quickly? Fabian Streiff: An important point for me was networking with cantonal actors, representatives from business and science. Due to the circumstances, this first had to be done virtually. But even more relevant for me was the question of how we can support companies – especially during the pandemic. The companies’ need for information was enormous. Especially in times when instruments such as short-time work and hardship aid were used.
What exactly have you done to support the companies? The Office for Economy and Labor sought an intensive exchange with entrepreneurs early on in order to find out which issues we need to address at national level and which we can solve within the canton. We have also set up a hotline for companies and continuously updated various websites. Now we are looking to the future and addressing the question of how we can positively influence the attractiveness of Zurich as a business location.
What is this plan like? Discussions with Zurich-based companies confirmed that we should focus even more on an attractive innovation location. Innovations are increasingly emerging in networks, which is why strong innovation ecosystems make a significant contribution to the future success of Zurich’s economy. This needs to be strengthened. A central theme are new hybrid forms of work such as home offices or working from co-working spaces. We have to ask ourselves what this means for the location and its development. It is also exciting to see how Zurich can remain an attractive business location for companies. Are there opportunities to improve access to talent and specialists, especially in the context of mobile working? What role can the state play in making a contribution here? These are all open questions – we are already seeing trends, but of course also the consequences of them, such as the discussion about making labor law more flexible.
Is Zurich really losing its attractiveness as a business location? Many companies answer this question with a resounding no. But shifts are becoming apparent. Large companies are forecasting a concentration on individual locations within the next two years. This means that certain properties could become vacant. On the other hand, these could quickly be used again for new forms of work such as co-working spaces. Rural centers are likely to be revitalized thanks to home office options. The business location Zurich is also strengthened by the universities, which do a great job with their successful spin-offs and research work and are right at the top of the rankings. The companies in the canton of Zurich were also able to attract risk capital on a large scale last year, which is very gratifying.
How did this positive development come about despite the pandemic? Zurich has positioned itself well in recent years, especially with a view to digital transformation. Top talent is needed here and can be found at the Zurich location. This is thanks to the universities and the talent pool, which has been able to develop significantly in recent years. At first the banks had a magnetic effect, now it is the large companies from the information and communication technology sector. The interaction of the various industries is very promising for the future. We are also registering positive developments in the area of research. The points mentioned are becoming more and more relevant in the location competition. But other locations don’t sleep and have positioned themselves very well nationally and internationally, which is why the leading position of the Canton of Zurich cannot be taken for granted. It must continue to be strengthened in the area of innovation.
The canton of Zurich is Switzerland’s leading business location. Why? The attractiveness of Zurich is based on various factors. Starting with education, through a highly qualified workforce, to strong sectors from the financial sector and increasingly from the areas of life science technology, cleantech and information and communication technology. This diversity of competencies enables strong ecosystems, which strengthen cross-industry learning and innovation. The quality of life per se also speaks in favor of Zurich as a location.
What are you doing to secure this status in the future? Our new strategy has three focal points: The first is the strong focus on innovation topics in the areas of financial technology, digital health, biotech, cleantech and new mobility. Here we want to create more networking and opportunities for cooperation. The second focus is on cooperation with regional location subsidies in order to strengthen the diversity of the industry. The size of the Canton of Zurich requires networked work in order to do justice to the diversity of the individual regions. In this way, we can also support exciting regional projects, such as was the case with the Bio-Technopark in Schlieren. We are currently also seeing this at the Digital Health Center in Bülach. The third focus is on creating attractive framework conditions, especially in the area of innovation. Here we can work to ensure that the regulations at federal level are adapted for specific innovation topics.
Which regulations are in urgent need of adjustment? With Zurich as a strong innovation location, the focus is currently on the consequences and solutions following the failed framework agreement with the EU. The exclusion from Horizon Europe weighs heavily. Adjustments to labor law due to changed needs must also be checked – such as when working on the move.
Which areas are companies currently looking for the most? From the customer side, we see a need for space in well-developed locations that are integrated into an ecosystem. Connections to universities are being sought more and more. Biotech laboratories are also becoming increasingly important. Schlieren was able to develop enormously in this area. Nevertheless, we are registering a demand here that cannot yet be satisfied nationwide.
What is the problem? In the biotech sector, the space that comes onto the market is occupied again very quickly. More and more investors are needed who are willing to invest in laboratories. Such a project usually takes two years or more to develop. Appropriate foresighted planning is imperative.
How do you see the future for the office buildings in the canton of Zurich in light of the changing work models? We are currently grappling with this question. In general, employers want to become even more attractive. The demands on an office workplace will therefore increase. But whether that means that more space is required for each employee, or whether there will be mergers, we will only see in one or two years. But we believe that co-working will become even more important. However, in a more comprehensive form than today – in the sense of a meeting place where an in-depth exchange with science, the authorities and other actors in the ecosystem can take place. Quasi a co-working plus.
Which locations are most desirable? The city of Zurich and the airport region remain very attractive. At the airport, we are seeing high demand for the newly built The Circle. And the Limmattal has become even more attractive with the Limmattalbahn and the Bio-Technopark. The city of Winterthur and the Zimmerberg region are also popular locations thanks to the ZHAW.
Which companies are interested in The Circle? The Circle not only attracts companies from the information and communication technology sector such as Microsoft or Oracle, but also from the life sciences sector. Digital health is an important topic here. After a difficult start-up phase caused by Corona, the business on the Circle is now picking up, and 85 percent of the space is already rented.
What are the most important source markets for the Canton of Zurich? The USA is still by far the strongest market. Europe, especially Germany, as well as China and Japan are also important. We are now concentrating on Korea and Israel. Companies are increasingly thinking in terms of research and development hubs. For many companies, Zurich is not only an international business location, but also such a hub. Marketing abroad is handled by the Greater Zurich Area location marketing organization for us.
How should Zurich as a business location develop over the next 10 years? It should become even stronger as an innovation location. Zurich has a long history and is well known as a financial center. That is important – also with a view to future settlements in the area of financial technology. Zurich should also distinguish itself in the areas of artificial intelligence and new mobility, such as the development of autonomous systems. We believe in a move away from the traditional Zurich financial center towards a business location that will be very strong in the new topics mentioned and in digitization. The Zurich economy is already well positioned and is resistant to crises – but in the future Zurich should become even more innovative, attractive and thus even stronger.
Fabian Streiff with his team.
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