In 2008, three strong partners—SWX Group, SIS Group, and Telekurs Group—combined to create a wonderfully resilient company which would go on to overcome the global financial crisis and evolve into a hugely successful entity in the Swiss financial sector. SIX, as it is called today, provides services to an international client base across four key business areas: the Swiss Exchange, securities services, financial information, and payment services. Last year it generated a net profit of CHF 247.2 million.
Dr Urs Rüegsegger sits at the helm of SIX as CEO, joining just as the aforementioned reincarnation was taking place in early 2008. Prior to that, he was the head of the executive committee for a medium-sized bank in Switzerland called St. Galler Kantonalbank. Urs joined the team there in 1993 as head of controlling, accounting, and risk management before taking charge of the IPO in 2000 and then launching it a year later. “It was mainly a retail bank and also active in commercial lending,” Urs says. “I became the CEO in 2001 and had been on the executive board since 1997.”
Urs’ strategic plan for SIX is to achieve a positive growth trajectory of 2 to 3% in the coming years by implementing five clearly defined strategic priorities.
The first is to strengthen customer relations, the second to increase business volume, the third to have a continual improvement of productivity, the fourth to develop innovative solutions for the customers, and the fifth to further develop the financial infrastructure in bundling non-differentiating activities of customers. “This means we have to know our clients, respond to their needs in a flexible and innovative way, drive projects forward with commitment, and keep the time to market as short as possible.”