The careers of these seven women grabbed the headlines on the Swiss financial market in 2015 – a further seven ought to be watched in 2016.
1. Lara Warner
Credit Suisse Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam called her a 'rising star' at the Swiss banking giant. Lara Warner, a U.S. citizen (pictured below) was named Head of the Compliance & Regulatory Affairs unit in October, a new position at a new division.
Robert Shafir, the former private-banking boss, took Warner under his wings as part of the bank's program to get women into top jobs – today she's in a key position and he's gone. Compliance is an absolute priority, Thiam has said, so Warner's career has taken off.
2. Andréa Maechler
The economist from Geneva is a rising star too, but one with a tough job – probably one of the most challenging in the financial service industry of Switzerland. Andréa Maechler (pictured below) on July 1, 2015 became the first female member of the governing board of the central bank, taking charge of financial markets, banking operations and information technology at the Department III. She's the one monitoring the value of the franc in relation to other currencies and in charge of interventions. Her job isn't likely to get any easier.
3. Leda Braga
The citizen of Brazil, 48, is running her own hedge fund – Systematica– since the start of the year, based in Geneva. Leda Braga achieved fame working for U.K. billionaire Michael Platt, earning him a whopping 40 percent yield on his investment at BlueCrest in the middle of the financial crisis. The entrepreneur (pictured top) was repeatedly named the most powerful hedge fund manager.
4. Dawn Fitzpatrick
The New Yorker, 45, is in charge of hedge fund platform UBS O'Connor since November, making her a candidate for the most powerful hedge fund manager of 2016. Dawn Fitzpatrick (pictured below) started as an office clerk in the 90s, got herself a qualification as stock exchange trader and became the boss of $6 billion in assets under management.
5. Nadja Ceregato
The lawyer was appointed head of the Legal & Compliance unit at Raiffeisen, Switzerland's third-largest bank, in May. Nadja Ceregato (pictured below) is the wife of Pierin Vincenz, who left his position as CEO of Raiffeisen at the same time.
6. Emanuela Bonadiman
Edmond de Rothschild, the private bank based in Geneva, undoubtedly did the most to promote women in 2015. Emanuela Bonadiman (pictured below), head of HR, took a seat on the executive board in December, joining deputy CEO Sabine Rabald and CFO Cynthia Tobiano. The bank in also named Mathilde Lemoine chief economist.
Ariane de Rothschild is playing a leading role at the bank and likely made her influence count.
7. Brigitte Ross
Like the rather aristocratic Rothschild Bank, Migros Bank, with its ties to the retail giant Migros Genossenschaftsbund, also increased the number of women in top positions. The retail bank elected Brigitte Ross (pictured below) as member of the supervisory board. Ross joined from Credit Suisse. She also imports biological olive oil from Tunisia.
Fintech Pioneer, Former Government Minister, Wife of Banker
Christina Kehl (pictured below) collected 15 million francs to finance the further development of insurance broker Knip, putting the fintech pioneer and entrepreneur at the top of the league in her industry.
Ruth Metzler is busy collecting mandates on supervisory boards. The former government minister took positions at Aquila asset manager and Axa Winterthur insurance company.
Similarly active was Mirjam Staub-Bisang, an entrepreneur from Zurich, taking mandates at Bellevue Group, founded by her husband Martin. In October she was elected to the board of Profond pension fund.
Katia Coudray (pictured below) was put in charge of asset management at Banque Syz in June. Fiona Frick is keeping Unigestion asset manager on a steady growth path as CEO. And equally successful as manager is Marianne Wildi, boss of comparatively modest Hypi bank in Lenzburg.
