Swiss companies have recognized the relevance of sustainability and estimate that sustainability in the areas of economy, ecology, and society and social issues will continue to gain in importance over the next ten years. If a company wants to remain successful in the future, it must adapt its business processes and strategies to sustainability - 79 percent of the companies surveyed agreed with this. Despite the high relevance attributed to the topic of sustainability in general, still just under a third of respondents have not defined a sustainability strategy for their company. A quarter of the companies surveyed have a sustainability strategy, but this runs parallel to the business strategy. Fortunately, at 45 percent of the companies, the sustainability strategy is already an integral part of the business strategy. "We see that many companies are in the middle of the transformation process. That is a good sign. But there is also still a lot to do," says Prof. Dr. Brian Rüeger, Head of the Institute for Marketing Management at ZHAW.

Conflicting classical corporate objectives and sustainability goals

The majority of companies (85 percent) have defined sustainability goals, but these are also anchored in the business strategy of only 38 percent of the companies. For many companies, sustainability goals only serve as orientation or are not compatible with corporate goals. This problem becomes even more apparent when it comes to monitoring the goals achieved. "Many companies still find it difficult to measure the success of their sustainability efforts and also to incorporate these figures into future decisions. In 66 percent of cases, the achievement or non-achievement of goals has no consequence, which can be particularly problematic in the case of conflicting goals," says Dr. Pia Furchheim, co-director of the Sustainability Lab at the Institute for Marketing Management.

Customers as the biggest driver and at the same time the biggest barrier to sustainability

According to the authors of the study, one exciting finding is the field of tension in which companies find themselves today. Customer requirements and expectations are among the strongest drivers behind companies' sustainability efforts. At the same time, more than 60 percent of the companies see customers as the biggest barrier to sustainability. It was found that customers are still not sufficiently aware of sustainability and are generally not willing to bear the additional costs for sustainable alternatives. For Dr. Pia Furchheim, this is "a stalemate between companies and customers: Both sides want to be more sustainable, but fail to accommodate the other".

Sustainability communication with the handbrake on

Although many companies have already achieved initial milestones, only a fraction of these are communicated to the public. On the one hand, companies want to be perceived as sustainable; on the other hand, the fear of "greenwashing" accusations hangs over companies like a sword of Damocles. As a result, many companies keep quiet about their successes and measures in terms of sustainability - an approach also known as "greenhushing." "What is problematic about this approach is that companies give away unused potential. It also slows down awareness-raising and transformation processes across the industry. If everyone only works for themselves in silence, how can we learn from each other?" says Prof. Dr. Brian Rüeger.

The credibility of sustainability efforts depends on various factors. The top priority is congruence between corporate action and communication. Sustainability should not just be lip service. A must-have is the provability of the statements made. It is also important that sustainability is lived by employees and communicated to the outside world. Sustainability is not a one-time project, but a continuous process that requires constant adjustments and reviews. Internal and external communication should be continuous and transparent, and failures and setbacks may also be communicated.

From "low-hanging fruits" to long-term vision

On the road to sustainability, most companies start with the "low-hanging fruits", i.e. measures that can generally be implemented quickly. For example, 45 percent of the companies surveyed are taking measures in the area of infrastructure and furniture (e.g., switching to energy efficiency), while 43 percent are taking measures in the area of human resources (e.g., equal pay). More complex measures that move away from a linear economy toward a circular economy (e.g., new business models such as Product as a Service, Circular by Design, Reverse Logistics, etc.) are still in their infancy. "The future lies in the circular economy. Even if the switch to sustainability sounds challenging, companies should not shy away from the path and set the necessary course early on. Sustainability must be anchored in the corporate strategy and culture for the long term," concludes Dr. Pia Furchheim's study.

Source: ZHAW

The world of work is changing: it is increasingly characterized by digitization and automation, the baby boomer generation is retiring from the workforce, and many industries are urgently looking for skilled workers. Attracting and retaining new, capable employees is becoming more challenging. Human resources management is challenged: Within the framework of personnel development, it must provide tools to drive the professional and personal development of employees as well as to shape leadership work, value attitudes and corporate culture.

How should companies find and promote their personnel in today's market environment? Answers are provided by the Ostschweizer Personaltag. For the 19th time, it brings together HR experts, HR specialists and managers from SMEs to present and discuss solutions to fundamental questions about personnel development.

How does the brain learn throughout life?

On September 28, 2023, this will take place with the help of six proven speakers. Brain researcher, neuroscientist and author Prof. Dr. Dr. Manfred Spitzer will talk about how memory, creativity and lifelong learning work. He heads the Psychiatric University Hospital in Ulm and founded the Transfer Center for Neuroscience and Learning some 20 years ago. Spitzer manages to describe even the most complicated processes vividly.

Dr. Kai Berendes, an expert in strategic HR management, addresses the challenges of data-driven strategic HR work. Barbara Ehrbar-Sutter, owner and managing director of Breitenmoser Appenzeller Fleischspezialitäten AG, tells the story from the perspective of a successful SME: in 2020 and 2022, her company won the "Swiss Employer Award" in the category 50 to 99 employees. As an experienced expert for HRM, Matthias Mölleney comments on the topic of leadership in today's world. His consulting firm, peopleXpert, advises companies on issues including professional personnel management. Dr. André Langenegger, owner of the IMC Institute for Management and Coaching, and Jürg Pauli, Chief Transformation Officer at Galenica, Switzerland's largest healthcare network, will explain how organizational and human resources development can optimally complement each other.

Registration via website

From now on, registrations for the Ostschweizer Personaltag 2023 - until the end of May with early bird discount - are possible via website: www.personaltag.ch. There you will also find the latest information, as well as impressions of the events of previous years.

The 19th East Switzerland Personnel Day will take place on September 28, 2023, starting at 12:30 p.m. in Hall 9.1B of Olma Messen St. Gallen. At 5 p.m., an aperitif riche will be served and, as usual, there will be the opportunity for extended networking.

B Lab Switzerland, a non-profit foundation dedicated to the development of standards and legal frameworks for the benefit of society and the environment, launches its first awareness campaign entitled "Plan B". This initiative, carried out in collaboration with 13 Swiss B Corps, aims to stimulate a dialogue, on indispensable changes in our economic system, as well as on the role that companies can and must play as catalysts of change.

What makes the difference with B Corps

In the current climate of widespread distrust of financial markets and ongoing social and environmental crises, it is more necessary than ever to restore trust and actively initiate change in our economy, B Lab writes in a media release. B Corp-certified companies go beyond traditional financial criteria to measure their performance against rigorous social and environmental performance standards and commit to transparency and legal accountability. The B Corp movement, with more than 6,500 B Corps worldwide, including about 280 active B Corps in Switzerland, demonstrates that cross-industry collaboration is a solution to break out of the status quo and restore the lost trust of consumers, employees and investors.

Plan B to raise awareness and break out of the status quo.

B Lab Switzerland launches "Plan B", a bold initiative that brings the B Corp movement to the forefront. This "Plan B" aims not only to make B Corp certified companies more accessible to consumers, but also to show that B Corps are an effective choice as an employer as well as a business partner. Above all, however, B Lab wants to stimulate a discussion about indispensable changes in our economic system.

"In the face of a loss of trust and widespread mistrust, it is critical to turn to the change agents who embody hope and solutions to global challenges: businesses. With "Plan B", we are launching for the first time a public campaign to stimulate a dialogue on the necessary transformations and the crucial role of companies as catalysts of change in global challenges," said Jonathan Normand, Founder and CEO of B Lab Switzerland.

Source: B Lab

The Swiss Economic Forum (SEF) honors women with an outstanding entrepreneurial track record: for the third time, three female entrepreneurs have received the SEF.WomenAward. With this award, the Swiss Economic Forum pursues three objectives: Strengthening the visibility of businesswomen among the general public, creating role models for the next generation, and consolidating a forward-looking platform for women in business.

The SEF.WomenAward is presented to female entrepreneurs in the categories "Young Entrepreneur of the Year" and "Entrepreneur/CEO of the Year". In addition to the two categories, an exceptional personality who has dedicated his or her life to making Switzerland a strong business location is honored with the Honorary Award. The three winners this year are:

• Young Entrepreneur of the Year: Catarina Dahlin, Co-Founder and Co-CEO Dagsmejan Ventures AG. She embodies successful female entrepreneurship with her person and her company, according to the tribute. Her confidence in her own entrepreneurial vision convinced the jury.
• Entrepreneur/CEO of the Year: Marie-France Tschudin, President, Innovative Medicines International & CCO Novartis: She gives great priority to the advancement of women and is an inspiring role model for many women in business - in Switzerland and globally. In her area of responsibility, an impressive 50% of associates are women.
• Honorary Award: Antoinette Hunziker-Ebneter, Founding Partner & CEO Forma Futura Invest AG and Chairman of the Board of Berner Kantonalbank AG. She was the first woman to head the Swiss stock exchange from 1995 to 2001 and is actively committed to sustainable corporate governance and a higher proportion of women in management positions.

The award ceremony took place at a gala evening on March 24, 2023 in Zurich.

Source and further information: swisseconomic.ch/sef-womenaward

Trust also has to do with continuity: Since the very beginning, organizer and CEO of KMU Swiss, Armin Baumann, has relied on the same moderator: Hugo Bigi. And he once again led the event in a professional manner in the Trafohalle Baden. The KMU Swiss Symposium seems to be a model for success.

Regaining trust in the militia system

However, confidence in another successful model, Switzerland, seems rather shaken at the moment. Is nothing safe with us anymore, not even the banks? Or the Ukraine war: Does this now show the weaknesses of the entire European security policy? KKdt Thomas Süssli, head of the Swiss Armed Forces, explained today's variety of threats in his opening speech. "We are entering World 4.0," said KKdt Süssli. After imperialism ("World 1.0"), the Cold War ("World 2.0") and the period after the fall of the Soviet Union ("World 3.0"), a bloc formation between West and East is again dawning with China as the new superpower. And there are other forces that will change our future: Urbanization, demographics, climate change, and the 4th Industrial Revolution with the advent of artificial intelligence. All four of these forces carry their own risks to security. With the army, Switzerland has "the last security element", says Thomas Süssli. However, the war in Ukraine shows that our army has ensured competence, but lacks war logistics. This requires investments in the build-up capability. Thomas Süssli also sees the militia system as being under threat. He therefore appealed to the business representatives in the room to once again honor the militia system more strongly, pointing out that the Swiss Armed Forces in particular enable unique leadership training from which companies could also benefit. "Security no longer only has a value, but also a price," Thomas Süssli concluded.

How to lose faith in Santa Claus....

Would you trust a Santa Claus who suddenly appeared in your store on December 6? Ivano Somaini showed in his lecture "Believe me, I am a liar" that despite all sympathy for this custom, a little more caution would be appropriate. The speaker is a security analyst at Compass Security Schweiz AG and, as a legal hacker, tests security infrastructures for their permeability on behalf of customers. It often turns out that the technological hurdles (firewalls, security doors, vaults, etc.) are increasingly difficult to overcome. But the human factor is often the decisive weak point. And thanks to the wealth of information - some of it personal - that circulates on the Net about companies and their employees, creative attack scenarios can be developed that often lead to success. "People are easily manipulated," says Somaini. That's why he has even managed to infiltrate a company disguised as Santa Claus and then go on the rampage as a "data thief". His presentation is likely to have prompted a number of participants to be a little more cautious on the Internet in the future and to show more healthy distrust.

Of swarm intelligence, leadership and trust in brands

Can opinions be manipulated? Not if you rely on swarm intelligence, as the company BrainE4 does with its app. Company founder and CEO Andreas Seonbuchner explained how the whole thing works. Based on pre-formulated questions, pairs of questions are defined, which can then be evaluated by the participants in a so-called "swarm dialogue". The application has mechanisms that prevent opinions from being "steered". The participating dialog groups are hierarchy-free, and there is no stage for particularly loud voices. Symposium visitors were able to test how the tool works for themselves right away.

David Fiorucci, CEO of LP3 AG, then explained what makes a good boss. "For 30 years, we have always received the same answer to this question: role model and trust," Fiorucci said. Using nine elements (vision, values, role model, presence, employee development and leadership, communication, justice, professional competence, organization), he showed the quintessence of leadership. Meeting all of these requirements is, of course, difficult. According to Fiorucci, the ability to self-reflect is therefore also important. And this can ultimately also prevent burnout.

Monique Bourquin, President of the Promarca association, then spoke about trust in brands. A trustworthy brand today must stand for uniqueness and values, convey a purpose, show itself capable of innovation, and demonstrate continuity in communication across all channels. "Even in a crisis, a brand must be authentic," says Bourquin. Using prominent examples such as Lindt and Kambly, she also showed that brands are increasingly being experienced through personal stories.

Politics vs. the media - and an entrepreneurial award at the end

In a panel discussion, journalist Christof Moser (co-founder of the online newspaper "Republik") and Aargau Council of States member and FDP president Thierry Burkart debated trust in the media and in politics. The two panelists largely agreed on the importance of the media's role as the "fourth estate." "Media must be suspicious," said Thierry Burkart. Christof Moser sees the gigantic wealth of information as a risk that more and more people will make up their own truth from it and distrust everything that doesn't fit in. More media competence is therefore needed in the fight against fake news.

The final event was the presentation of the Swiss Entrepreneur Award. This went to Guido Bardelli, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the packaging company Bourquin SA in Oensingen. He was honored as an entrepreneur for whom profit is not the primary concern and who has always been, and still is, committed to the people in and around the company.

The next KMU Swiss Symposium will take place on September 7, 2023 in Brugg. The topic is: "Security of Supply ... The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of?". Further information: www.kmuswiss.ch

Basel Area Business & Innovation is the agency for location promotion and innovation support that helps companies, institutions and startups to be successful in the Basel economic region. Its CEO Christof Klöpper, can now look back on a successful 2022: "Both in terms of newly established companies and startups, we achieved excellent figures in 2022." Even a new record value was reached by the number of company startups supported by the agency. 96 startups took advantage of its services in the founding process. This is 20 more than in the previous year. Most of the newly founded companies operate in the life sciences (21), followed by the services (18), construction (11) and ICT (10) sectors. A large proportion of the young companies benefited from advice provided by the Venture Mentoring Program, which is characterized by industry-, customer- and technology-specific support. Among others, the Basel-based cleantech company Kuori took advantage of this offer. Since its founding in spring 2022, Kuori has already been able to close financing in the amount of 2.3 million euros and has thus made a very respectable start.

High settlement figures confirm attractiveness of Basel Area

The attractiveness of Basel as a location was also demonstrated last year by the stable high number of companies settling in the area. Of the 35 companies that have newly settled in the Basel Area, almost two-thirds are active in the life sciences sector. Of these 24 companies, 5 belong to the field of digital health innovations. The companies that have settled in the cantons of Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt and Jura with the support of Basel Area Business & Innovation come from 16 countries. Of these, 14 come from Europe (e.g. Tenpoint Therapeutics), 7 from Asia (e.g. Acro Biosystems) and 6 from the USA (e.g. LifeMine Therapeutics). There were 8 arrivals from cantons outside the Basel Area. Domenico Scala, President of Basel Area Business & Innovation, sums up: "Companies, large and small, find everything they need for healthy development in our economic region. The entire value chain is here, from startups to established companies. We have venture capital, government support and functioning interfaces between business and research."

Source: www.baselarea.swiss

Nutanix, a company specializing in hybrid multi-cloud computing, has announced the results of its fifth global Enterprise Cloud Index (ECI) presented. The study measures the progress of enterprises in cloud adoption. According to the ECI, companies are using increasingly diverse IT environments, which presents them with the challenge of managing and controlling their data across environments. As a result, the majority of IT teams are deploying more than one IT infrastructure - a trend that is likely to increase in the future. At the same time, they struggle with data visibility across environments: Only 40 percent say they have a complete overview of where their data is stored.

More and more multiple IT environments

"In the coming years, hundreds of millions of applications will be developed that will generate unprecedented amounts of data," said Lee Caswell, SVP, Product and Solutions Marketing at Nutanix. "Enterprises are wrestling with current application and data management between the edge, various clouds and their core infrastructure. This year's ECI report paints a picture of the situation that our customers continue to mirror to us: The market needs a cloud operating model that enables the development, operation, use and governance of hybrid multi-cloud environments to support all types of applications - today as well as tomorrow."

Over the past five years, the responses of study participants have moved overwhelmingly in the direction of using multiple IT environments. In 2018, more than half of respondents said they planned to one day run all workloads without exception in either a private cloud or the public cloud. But instead of working to consolidate to that infrastructure or IT operating model, as seemed desirable in 2018, most organizations today see the absolute necessity - as well as the associated benefits - of running workloads equally in the public cloud, on-premises and at the edge.

Central control of cloud environments

Meanwhile, enterprises are looking to make the hybrid operating model more efficient, especially in managing IT environments from the edge to the core infrastructure. Increasingly diverse cloud delivery models create tremendous complexity in managing application data across cloud environments. As a result, comprehensive tools that help organizations deploy, migrate, manage, monitor and secure applications and data in a unified way from a central management console are becoming increasingly important for IT. Accordingly, almost all respondents said they would benefit from a centralized and unified control console to manage their applications and data across cloud environments.

Key findings of the study

• Most organizations use more than one type of IT infrastructure, and almost all agree that using a central platform to manage them consistently would be ideal: the majority of IT teams (60 percent) use more than one IT infrastructure - whether a mix of private and public cloud environments, multiple public clouds, or the combination of an on-premises and hosted data center. According to respondents, this proportion is expected to rise to nearly three-quarters (74 percent) in the next one to three years. However, this trend also creates challenges: 94 percent of respondents said they would benefit from having a centralized place to manage their applications and data across different environments.
• Data security and management considerations drive IT infrastructure decisions: Data is at the heart of enterprise infrastructure decisions. The most important aspects here are data security and
  -protection, and data recovery and sovereignty. While 94 percent of respondents agreed that full transparency is important, only 40 percent said they have complete visibility into where their data resides.
• Controlling cloud costs is one of the biggest challenges in IT management: 85 percent of respondents see cloud costs as a challenge in IT management and more than a third (34 percent) rate them as a "significant" challenge. In particular, application migration across cloud environments is currently a big problem for enterprises, with 86 percent of respondents believing that migrating applications across cloud boundaries can be complex and costly. In addition, nearly half of respondents (46 percent) plan to bring some applications back into their own data center to reduce cloud costs over the next twelve months.
• Nearly all respondents (96 percent) have started using open source Kubernetes orchestration: However, they also indicated that developing and configuring the underlying infrastructure, storage, and database services were among the biggest challenges of their Kubernetes deployments.
• Sustainability is now a priority in IT: For nearly all respondents (92 percent), the issue of sustainability is more important in their company today than it was a year ago. This shift in priorities is primarily the result of corporate initiatives in the area of Environment, Social and Governance or ESG for short (63 percent), supply chain disruption (59 percent) and customer purchasing decisions (48 percent).

Source: Nutanix

The software company Abacus Research AG strengthened its position as the leading Swiss manufacturer of business and ERP software for SMEs and public administrations again last year. In 2022, 516 companies newly opted for Abacus software in the traditional license business. Demand for subscriptions for program use from the cloud has also continued to grow, according to the company. Here, Abacus recorded a 20.9 percent increase in sales. In the case of employee self-service functions tailored to company employees, revenue growth was an encouraging 49.3 percent, according to the company. In total, more than 696,000 subscriptions had been taken out for SME employees by the end of 2022. At the same time, the number of employees at Abacus Research AG rose by 87 to 574 last year. At the end of the year, the entire group, including the subsidiaries in Biel, Thalwil and Germany, had 723 employees.

The most successful Abacus sales partner in 2022 in terms of total sales was Axept Business Software AG, as in the previous year, followed by OBT and BDO. The first prize for the most new sales also went to Axept Business Software, followed by OBT and Customize. The special prize for the most successful sales partner in the AbaImmo area went to Aandarta, followed by OFISA SA and BDO.

Claudio Hintermann, CEO of Abacus Research AG, comments on last year's business performance as follows: "SMEs want to make their processes more efficient in a wide variety of areas and are dependent on IT solutions for automation to do so. This trend is reflected in our good business results. To this end, we have invested heavily in innovations in recent years."

Source: Abacus Research AG

Global payment practices have recently deteriorated more sharply than in the previous seven years combined: In 2022, invoices were paid after an average of 59 days - five days later than in the previous year. Even before that, global payment behavior - with the exception of 2020 - had gradually deteriorated, albeit far less markedly: between 2015 and 2021, the "days of sales outstanding" (DSO), i.e. the period between invoicing and payment, deteriorated by a total of four days. This is the conclusion of the latest study by credit insurer Allianz Trade. "Payment morale is an important predictor of delayed payments and defaults, as well as insolvencies," says Maxime Lemerle, chief insolvency analyst at Allianz Trade. "The longer companies have to wait for their money, the more likely they are to end up sitting on unpaid invoices. Suppliers' role as an invisible bank comes into full play, increasing liquidity risks in the system." 17 % of companies worldwide are not paid for 90 days, and a total of 42 % are paid more than 60 days.

Switzerland: Still relatively good payers

In contrast to some Western European countries, Swiss companies were able to keep payment delays in check. At 57 days in 2022, payment morale remained stable compared to the previous year. "The Swiss have always been said to have a good payment morale," says Jan Möllmann, CEO of Allianz Trade in Switzerland. "The current figures confirm this reputation, even in these difficult times. Nevertheless, this is no guarantee. We are seeing more and more large-scale insolvencies. These can quickly become dangerous for suppliers. That's why they would do well to keep a close eye on the environment and act in good time. Otherwise, the bill will not be paid at all in the end."

Asia-Pacific: payment morale deteriorates most sharply

Customers in the Asia-Pacific region pay particularly late (65 days, +6 days). The main driver here is China, where payment behavior deteriorated particularly sharply in 2022 and DSOs increased by 10 days to 54 days. In the Middle East, companies still have to wait around 64 days for their money. In Western Europe, the average is 56 days (+3 days), in South America (+3 days) and Central and Eastern Europe (+4 days) 51 days each, and in the USA 49 days (+1 day).

The picture is also heterogeneous among the sectors. Payment practices have deteriorated particularly sharply in the transportation equipment sector (+15 days), raw materials (+10 days), electronics and software and IT (+8 days each), pharmaceuticals, food and construction (+7 days each). Overall, companies in the machinery and plant engineering sector (79 days), transportation equipment (77 days), electronics and construction (72 days each) have to wait the longest for their money.

Source: Alliance Trade

Do women generally have it worse in old age? Are there social structures for old people from the LGBTQ+ community? And are old people structurally disadvantaged in the workplace, even discriminated against because of their age? The list of topics of the think tank "Age is just a number... really?" of the non-profit association Swiss Diversity is extensive: "Age discrimination is the new sexism," says Ellen Kocher, guest speaker at the think tank and author of a book on the 50+ generation in Switzerland.

At this think tank, other well-known people met on March 20 at the University of Bern to discuss problems, trends and possible solutions around age discrimination. The participants came from a wide range of industries: Stefan Gal, Co-Lead Diversity at Swisscom, Michael Hoekstra, President of the City Council of Bern, and Ines Hartmann, Co-Director of the Competence Centre for D&I University of St. Gallen, were among them.

When gender or the past determines the future

"Old people still have the prejudice that they block new things and thus make innovation impossible," says Christiane Bisanzio, jury president of Swiss Diversity and co-founder of the think tank. But older people are not the only ones who have to contend with prejudice. Women, for example, often have poorer pensions in old age because, on the one hand, they are disadvantaged by the gender pay gap, and they are also still increasingly responsible for childcare and household chores. Work that is socially very valuable, but does not entail contributions to the 2nd pillar.

In most cases, however, it is worth looking at people's socioeconomic and cultural histories to understand age discrimination. People from financially weak households tend to be less educated and are more likely to find low-paying and physically demanding jobs later in life, such as in nursing or skilled trades. The consequence: in old age, bodies are broken down by physical exertion, and pensions are barely enough to live on for many.

The 4-day week: a solution for all generations?

In addition to all the problem areas, the Think Tank focused on possible solutions. One prominent example: the controversial 4-day week. "We are convinced that all generations would benefit from a 4-day week," says Bisanzio with conviction. The business community is not entirely averse to the new working time model either: "The health of employees in particular would benefit from a 4-day week - regardless of which generation they come from," says Bisanzio. Healthy employees are less likely to be absent from work. For companies, however, it is essential that productivity does not suffer as a result of a 4-day week.

Which solution it is in the end, however, is not too decisive for the association, and so Stephan Lendi, co-founder of Swiss Diversity and moderator of the think tank, ended the evening with the words: "It is important that the various problem areas of age discrimination are increasingly brought into the discourse. This year's theme, "Age," is ideal for this because it is intersectional and thus appeals to a broad target group, even within the various diversity fields."

Source and further information: Swiss Diversity

Neutrass, the owner-managed insurance broker based in central Switzerland and founded in 1988, is taking over Finance Partner AG in Willisau. "Through this merger, we are strengthening our position in the core region of Central Switzerland with expansion in the Sursee, Sempach and Willisau region," Neutrass CEO Pascal Walthert is pleased to announce. "In order to maintain a high level of service competence and commitment to customers and to work exclusively for customers in the future, I decided to merge with the strong and experienced partner Neutrass," says Werner Lustenberger, owner of Finance Partner AG in Willisau, explaining his move.

Ensure continuity

The business of insurance and pension brokers in Switzerland, like the entire financial industry, is undergoing a transformation. In view of increasingly complex regulatory requirements and rapidly growing digitalization, more and more brokers are combining to form larger entities. Finance Partner AG has grown step by step over the past decades.

Proud Swiss Company

With more than ten locations throughout Switzerland, Neutrass focuses on customer proximity and regional presence. Thus, the two company cultures fit together perfectly. Neutrass remains owner-managed, completely independent and focuses on Swiss values such as quality, reliability and competence. The insurance broker is committed to providing neutral and professional insurance and pension advice to small, medium and large companies as well as public institutions in the Lake Sempach region. With around 80 highly qualified employees, the company is one of the largest brokers in Switzerland and covers a broad range of specialist competencies, which are continuously and systematically strengthened.

A-broker status with insurance companies

Neutrass from Rotkreuz has been operating successfully as an independent broker for 35 years. The cooperation concluded on a brokerage basis with more than 70 renowned insurance companies and other financial service providers is the door opener for the optimal planning and coordination of insurance and pension wishes tailored to the needs of the customers. Due to its size, longevity and quality, the company enjoys a very high reputation among product and solution providers and the status of an A-broker. This enables Neutrass to negotiate more advantageous products, solutions and conditions for its SME and industrial clients from all sectors of the economy as well as public institutions.

Source and further information