FINANZ’23: The 24th Swiss Finance Fair for professional investors

The current environment is proving equally challenging for professional investors and product providers alike. The simultaneous timing of the various challenges as well as the dimensions and tempo of change call for foresight, new ways of looking at things, and fresh approaches.

And this is precisely the aim of FINANZ’23, which will take place on 3 and 4 May 2023 in Zurich Oerlikon. At the 24th staging of Switzerland’s largest financial fair, renowned experts from many different disciplines will provide their insights into how the change of era can be shaped and exploited – with regard to the new interest rate world, our approach to the environment, and the new economic and regulatory parameters.

At times of great upheaval, orientation is more needed than ever. But this requires more than just signposts. Orientation can also emerge through personal encounters and one-to-one exchanges of ideas. And it is precisely this kind of compact platform for opinion-forming that the traditional financial fair for professional investors offers once again this year – but now in the spring rather than at the start of the year. The venue will once again be Halle 550 in Zurich Oerlikon.

Popular platform for exchanges of views and opinion-forming

On both days of the fair, three roundtables with high-profile speakers will devote themselves to this year’s fair motto, «A change of era». These will set the tone for the exhibition stand visits and specialist talks of more than 80 exhibitors.

The first roundtable on Day 1 will explore the question of whether – and how well – central banks are prepared for the next financial crises. As guardians of global monetary and financial stability, they play a particularly important role in these turbulent times. Tackling these key questions will be Petra Gerlach, Alternate Member of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank; Professor Christoph Lengwiler, Member of the Bank Council of the Swiss National Bank, and Ernst Baltensperger, Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Bern. The expert discussion will be chaired by SRF moderator Fabio Canetg.

Day 2 of the fair will open with a roundtable on deglobalization and renationalization. Both the pandemic and recent geopolitical tensions have required manufacturers to make immediate adjustments to their product portfolios and radically rethink the design of value creation chains. Responding to this issue with their views and experiences will be Beat Rieder, Member of the Swiss Council of States (The Centre, Valais); the resigning President of the Swiss Employers’ Association, Valentin Vogt, and economic historian Professor Tobias Straumann, Professor with this session being chaired by Mark Dittli, Editor-in-Chief of The Market.

On the same day, leading names from the energy sector and the political establishment will look at Switzerland’s energy strategy going forward. Finanz und Wirtschaft Editor Sylvaine Chassot will put questions to Axpo’s Head Corporate Strategy & Economics Martin Koller; Christoph Schäfers, Vice President for International Coordination at Uniper; Werner Luginbühl, President of the Federal Electricity Commission (Elcom), and Jürg Grossen, Member of the Swiss National Council (The Liberal Greens, Berne).

New as well as tried-and-tested formats

FINANZ’23 will also unveil a new format: On the second day of the fair, fund managers will give an insight into their work at a special roundtable. Fintech, crypto, and blockchain companies are key drivers of the transformation of the financial world. Visitors to last year’s financial fair were left in no doubt about this after visiting the newly created Open Forum. In view of this inaugural success, FINANZ’23 will repeat this event this year.

Meanwhile, visitors interested in acquiring the new knowledge that is required to actively shape the change of era will be given by FINANZ’23 training partners in one-to-one discussions and short training sessions. These include the Swiss Financial Analysts Association (SFAA), the VQF Academy together with the continuous training platform of the Association of Swiss Asset Managers (VSV), the Interest Group of Independent Asset Managers (IGUV), the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), the Institute of Financial Services Zug (IFZ) of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences, and the Swiss Marketplace Lending Association (SMLA).