Dr. Sc. Techn., CIIA
Founder and Managing Director
Ivo has been a trusted advisor of leading institutions and families for over 20 years, building on his pioneering contributions to the development of sustainable finance in the 1990ies and impact investing at the beginning of the century. He combines an academic education in environmental technology and planning with qualifications in financial analysis and portfolio management.
As chair of the advisory board of the Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth at University of Zürich he provides strategic advice to this important initiative. He is also an advisor to the Sustainable Finance Initiative in Hong Kong. Climate change is an important focus area of his work. As Climate Change Advisor of the Swiss Re Group already in 1995 he held what was probably the first position in the financial sector dedicated to the issue. He contributed important innovations in sustainable finance by developing the Dow Jones Sustainability Index during his time at Sustainable Asset Management (today part of Robeco) and early impact investing strategies in microfinance during his time at responsAbility.
Ivo has led or contributed to a range of collaborative initiatives aimed at strengthening the financial sector’s commitment to sustainability. Notably, he was responsible for coordinating the financial sector’s contribution to the UN Global Compact through the 'Who Cares Wins' project that he led. He was also an advisor to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment in developing guidelines for investments in particularly sensitive areas such as microfinance, commodities and farmland. He regularly publishes on issues relevant to long-term and sustainable investing and is a member of several industry bodies and associations, including the Association of International Wealth Management and the Swiss Financial Analyst Association.
He holds a Masters and a PhD degree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) and wrote his PhD thesis on the environmental life-cycle analysis of energy systems. This was followed by post-graduate studies in environmental law, economics and science at the University of Zurich. He is a certified international investment analyst and Swiss portfolio manager (AZEK) by training and has recently concluded post-graduate studies in applied philosophy that provide new inspiration for his advisory work. He likes to spend time in nature and sailing in the Mediterranean Sea.
