Switzerland is playing a leading role in the global impact investment market, which is estimated at USD 23 trillion. “You will see a big shift toward impact investing,” Partners Group co-founder Urs Wietlisbach tells Martina Fuchs. “If someone is just doing greenwashing, that has very short legs.”WATCH MORE
USM’s furniture lasts a lifetime, but is it worth the price?
A defining aspect of USM Haller’s modular furniture is how long it lasts. “You never throw away a piece,” says Nicole Rosenkranz, assistant professor at the Swiss Hospitality Management School in Lausanne. Despite the furniture’s sustainable appeal, Rosenkranz predicts that the company’s “one-trick-pony” product could be hurt by new buying trends.
From Münsingen to MoMA: the exceptional story of USM Haller
Not many Swiss products can claim to be design classics. However, the modular USM Haller furniture range is considered a true icon and is even featured in New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Find out in our summer series how the family firm from Münsingen has become a global player in a heavily contested market.
Is the Victorinox brand cool enough for a new generation?
After the 9/11 attacks in New York back in 2001, Victorinox sales fell by 30 percent. Many firms would have initiated mass layoffs after that kind of setback, but the company most famous for its Swiss Army knife chose instead to diversify its offerings in an attempt to turn it around. It was a risky move that mostly paid off, save for a clothing line that was discontinued after it failed to catch on. So where will the brand go next? Florent Girardin, assistant professor of marketing at Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, says that he thinks a new marketing strategy is needed to tap into the younger generation of consumers.
Iconic Swiss brand Victorinox: The mother of all knives
Who doesn’t know the little red pocket knife with the Swiss white cross? The Swiss Army knife was developed in the late 19th century after the military decided that its soldiers needed a practical, versatile, and portable tool. Over 500 million pieces have been sold worldwide, and each knife is still produced at the Ibach-based family company Victorinox.
What Deutsche Bank can learn from the big Swiss banks
Deutsche Bank is not the first to undergo sweeping changes: Swiss banks like UBS and Credit Suisse have also felt the pain of mass restructuring. But Editor In Chief Andreas Schaffner argues that this is a whole new ball game.
Business Update: How low could your pension payout go?
Pension funds have been the talk of Switzerland this week, where payouts have gone down and could potentially go even lower. That means a noticeably smaller chunk when you retire, as Andreas Schaffner explains.
Business Update: Switzerland straddles fine line between two dragons
Though Switzerland is not part of the G20, this week’s summit has big implications for the country. Switzerland’s relationship with the world’s two superpowers, who are currently at odds with each other, puts the country in a unique and possibly precarious position, as Frederic Lelievre explains.
The SMI hits an all-time high, but does it matter?
For the first time ever, the Swiss stock exchange hit a lofty 10,000 points in trading earlier this week, and it is flirting with that number once again. But is this really due to the strength of Swiss stocks?