This year's edition of the Investor Relations Conference took place on 20 November 2014 in Zurich. The full-day event once again offered interesting presentations and panel discussions on a large scope of topics to around 100 visitors. In between, a networking lunch gave participants the opportunity to reconnect with existing contacts and also make new ones.
In the morning Dr. Christian Katz, CEO SIX Swiss Exchange, opened the conference with an update on high frequency trading. In addition, Rodolfo Straub, Head SIX Exchange Regulation, and Dr. Sandra Hedinger, Head Public & Regulatory Affairs SIX Management AG, were interviewed on the latest financial market regulations. Dr. Hugo Bigi led the interview and moderated the entire event.
The interview was followed by a panel discussion led by Dr. Theresia Tolxdorff, with participants from the issuer side (Michael Gerber, Holcim Ltd; Andreas Schneiter, Dufry AG), investors (Christoph Zimmermann, AHV/IV/EO; Stefan Frischknecht, Schroders) and proxy agents (Barbara Heller, SWIPRA; Georgina Marshall, ISS).The topics were general assemblies, use of voting rights by investors and role of the Proxy Advisor considering the implementation of the Ordinance against Excessive Compensation (OAEC).
Prof. Dr. Christian Hauser from HTW Chur opened the afternoon session with a presentation on the significance of public companies for the Swiss economy. In the following panel Claude Stadler, SFS Group AG, Martin Durchschlag,HIAG Immobilien, Sascha Hostettler, Hypothekarbank Lenzburg AG and Dr. Andreas Neumann, Zürcher Kantonalbank discussed the topic Being Public vs. Going Private and named reasons for a stock exchange listing and its retention. The day was completed with an exciting and entertaining keynote presentation on "the key-code - your first impression" held by Gabriele Fröhlich, Akademie Mensch. All speeches can be watched as webcasts.
Successful partnership
Over the years, the Investor Relations Conference has turned into a popular networking event. SIX Swiss Exchangeorganized the event at ConventionPoint together with its partners the IR club and GIRAS (Swiss Society of Investor Relations Agencies). You can find other events on our event calendar. Information on our range of services for issuers can be found on our website.