06/04/2020

The 2020 general meetings saw the appointments of Laura Sadis and Marc Chesney to the board of Ethos Foundation and of Nicole Beiner to the board of Ethos Services SA. These nominations allow Ethos to strengthen its competences in strategic areas. The shareholders of Ethos Services SA also approved the statutory changes necessary for the B Corp certification obtained on 25 May 2020.

The 2020 general meetings of Ethos Foundation and Ethos Services SA were held this Thursday in Geneva. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, they took place without the physical participation of members and shareholders. The latter were invited to vote by mail and the general meetings were broadcast by videoconference.

The shareholders of both entities accepted all the proposals on the agenda. In particular, two new members were elected to the board of Ethos Foundation: the former member of the Council of State of Canton of Ticino (2007-2015) Mrs. Laura Sadis and the Professor of Quantitative Finance at the University of Zurich Mr. Marc Chesney. Mrs. Nicole Beiner, co-director of the continuing education diploma in Asset Management at the University of Geneva, joins the board of directors of Ethos Services SA.

A member of Ethos Foundation's board since 2009 and of the board of directors of Ethos Services SA since 2019, Mr. Hanspeter Uster has decided not to stand for re-election. Both boards sincerely thanked him for his commitment to the development of Ethos' business in recent years. From now on, Mrs. Cornelia Diethelm will sit on both the board of Ethos Foundation and the board of Ethos Services SA (of which she has been a member since 2019) as representative of Ethos Foundation, the main shareholder of the company.

"We are delighted to welcome new renowned personalities to our boards, says Rudolf Rechsteiner, chairman of Ethos Foundation. They are varied and complementary profiles who also have extensive professional experience, in particular in the field of sustainable finance." "This regular renewal of the boards has allowed us to attract new members who will strengthen our competences in strategic areas such as risk management," adds Beth Krasna, chairwoman of Ethos Services SA. I am also delighted to see that with these appointments we have achieved gender parity on the board of Ethos Services SA.”

The board of Ethos Foundation now has seven members, including three women, while the board of directors of Ethos Services SA has six members, including three women.

The shareholders of Ethos Services SA also accepted the amendment of the articles of association in connection with the B Corp certification received on 25 May 2020. The company's corporate purpose has been modified and a new article concerning the role of the board of directors has been added. The new version of the articles of association will be available on Ethos’ website.

Statements from the three new members

"I share Ethos' philosophy and values" explains Laura Sadis, who was also a member of the Swiss National Council (2004-2007) and of the board of the Swiss National Bank (2007-2015). "I believe that in order to make the right investment choices, one must be properly informed. This is precisely what Ethos and its team have been working on for more than 20 years: offering enlightened advice and analysis to those who wish to invest in a sustainable and responsible manner. I hope I can be useful to Ethos with my experience in the public domain, especially in Ticino. "

Marc Chesney, who launched the Center of Competence for Sustainable Finance at the University of Zurich at the beginning of the year, speaks of a long-standing convergence between Ethos' activities and its work on responsibility in finance. "These are parallel paths that converge. I hope to be able to contribute to bringing the academic and professional worlds closer together, particularly in the development of non-toxic financial products that are useful for sustainable development," he says. It is also an opportunity to join forces at a pivotal moment when not only the coronavirus but also the excesses of the financial system and global warming are striking. "

Nicole Beiner also underlines that it is Ethos’ long-standing values that led her to join the board of directors of Ethos Services SA. "I would like to bring my skills and experience in board of directors, my sense of responsibility, but also perhaps a slightly different point of view in view of my professional experience in the field of management".

Curriculum vitae


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Sébastien Dubas
E communication@ethosfund.ch
T +41 22 716 15 55

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