The Postfinance board is meeting today to choose a successor for Hansruedi Koenig, the current head of the Swiss Post subsidiary. An announcement about the new leader could come within ten days, based on finews.com's research.

Who will succeed the long-time head of the Swiss Post subsidiary Postfinance Hansruedi Koenig is the topic of discussion at today's board meeting of the Swiss postal service. Once the decision is made, the new boss could be announced within ten days,  finews.com research shows.

Swiss C-Suite

Executive search boutique Witena and its managing partner Oliver Berge have the exclusive mandate for securing Koeng's successor, in what is a coup for the headhunting firm seeking to establish itself in Swiss C-suite searches.

Not Longer the Outsider

This lucrative segment is dominated domestically by larger competitors such as Egon Zehnder. Witena shook off its outsider image in 2021 when it was entrusted by Raiffeisen Switzerland with the search for a successor to former chairman Guy Lachappelle, who resigned under unfortunate circumstances.

Witena and Postfinance declined to comment on Koeng's successor.

Unlucky CEO

He announced his resignation in March but will remain Postbank CEO until the end of February. Koeng has been with Postfinance for 21 years, including twelve years as CEO.

He was head of the bank during the negative interest rate era, which weighed heavily on its business model and from which the bank has yet to recover.

List of Viable Candidates

Indications are a woman could take the reins at Postfinance. According to reports, the nomination committee around chairman Marcel Buehrer and board members Michaela Troyanov, Maria Teresa Vacalli, and Alex Glanzmann favor a female.

Several female managers in Swiss banking could be considered for the Postbank CEO job. Florence Schnydrig Moser, head of private banking at Zuercher Kantonalbank, or Simone Westerfeld, head of retail banking at UBS Switzerland, come to mind.

In Sandra Lienhart, retail banking head at Postfinance and former CEO at Bank Cler, the institute would also have an experienced internal candidate for the top post.

Collaboration: Claude Baumann, Samuel Gerber