La Mobilière’s delegates have elected Paul Philipp Hug and Markus Hongler to the Mobilière Cooperative’s Board of Directors.

The Delegates’ Assembly appointed Markus Hongler, la Mobilière’s former CEO, to the Mobilière Cooperative’s Board of Directors. Concurrently, he has joined Swiss Mobiliar Holding Ltd’s Board of Directors.

Markus Hongler (63, from Zurich) has significantly helped to shape la Mobilière’s development into one of Switzerland’s most successful insurance businesses. Michèle Rodoni replaced him as la Mobilière’s CEO in early 2021. Markus has worked in the insurance industry, both in and outside Switzerland, for over 40 years.

12 women and 15 men now sit on the Cooperative’s Board of Directors

Together with Markus Hongler’s appointment, the delegates elected Paul Philipp Hug (43, from Meggen) to the Mobilière Cooperative’s Board of Directors. He is a board member and owner of the Luzerner Hug Gruppe AG, a family-owned baking business formed over 140 years ago and holds various other directorships. Since 2011, Paul Philipp has also been a Mobilière delegate. A Lucerne native, he graduated from the University of Zurich in business studies. He began his career working for Boston Consulting Group, one of the Big Three of management consulting firms.

Following both the latest election results, the Mobilière Cooperative’s Board of Directors now has 27 members (12 women and 15 men). Its role is to ensure la Mobilière upholds its cooperative ethos and to make core strategic decisions concerning the Cooperative’s public profile.

Change in Board Chairman now planned for 2023

The Mobilière Cooperative’s Board of Directors first laid out plans 18 months ago to seek delegates’ approval for Markus Hongler to join the Board. The plan was for him to take over from Urs Berger as la Mobilière’s Chairman in spring 2022.

Delegates voted by a slim majority to elect Markus Hongler to the Board of Directors at this year’s Delegates’ Assembly.

“I was recently appointed as Chairman of Luzerner Kantonalbank’s Board of Directors,” commented Markus Hongler, “Some delegates obviously feel that two chairmanships in the finance industry might be too many. That’s how I interpret the results of voting at the Delegates’ Assembly. I take this very seriously and have decided not to stand for the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors. Concurrently, I’m delighted to be able to continue supporting la Mobilière as an ordinary member of its Board of Directors.”

“On behalf of the Board of Directors, I wish to thank Markus Hongler for his many years of invaluable service to our successful business,” added Urs Berger, Chairman of the Board of Directors. “We’re delighted la Mobilière will in the future still be able to draw on his tremendous expertise.”

In view of the new situation and to maintain a flexible timeframe, Urs Berger stated during the Delegates’ Assembly his readiness to serve for a further year until 2023.

In the meantime, the relevant bodies will commence the process of finding a suitable successor. Further information about the next steps will be provided in due course.

Owing to the Federal Council’s Covid-19 restrictions, the Delegates’ Assembly took place in written form.

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