Swiss boards of directors are getting younger and younger and more and more international

According to the 2022 Board Monitor Study, only 38 percent of candidates for BoD positions have a background or experience as a CEO. In 2021, the figure was 44 percent. In Switzerland, only 30 percent of the 50 newly appointed board members have executive management experience, compared with more than 60 percent in the previous year. Candidates with proven financial expertise are particularly sought after. This explains why CFOs occupy 24 percent of the new positions.

In addition to CEO skills, it is also becoming increasingly difficult to find suitable board members with Swiss nationality. In Switzerland, the proportion of foreigners among newly appointed board members is higher than anywhere else in Europe. Whether Spain, Italy, Singapore or the Scandinavian countries - Swiss companies are increasingly finding what they are looking for abroad.

As in 2021, 70 percent of new board members were recruited outside Switzerland last year. The largest proportion came from other European countries, as the following examples illustrate: Ana de Pro Gonzalo from Spain at Novartis, Luca Maestri from Italy at Nestlé, and Tom Knutzen from Denmark at Givaudan. Rather rarely do new board members come from the USA or Canada, Asia or the Middle East. The Canadian Leanne Geale (Holcim), the Malaysian Chris Leong (Nestlé) or Julie Tay (Sonova) from Singapore are rather exceptions.

But Swiss board members are not only becoming more international, they are also getting younger. The average age of the 50 new board members appointed last year was 57. In 2021, the average age was 59. This trend can be observed throughout Europe. In the 14 countries evaluated, almost a quarter of the new seats were filled by candidates who were not yet 50 years old. The youngest board member in the target group studied was appointed in France at the age of 32, the oldest in the Netherlands at 81.