Board of Directors

The duties and responsibilities of the Board of Directors of Georg Fischer AG are defined by the Swiss Code of Obligations, the Articles of Association and the Corporation's organizational and company regulations. In accordance with the new statutory provisions which came into force on 1 January 2014 and updated on April 2024, the term of office of a member of the Board of Directors lasts until the next Annual Shareholders’ Meeting has been concluded and is thus limited to one year. As of 16 April 2025, the Board of Directors is composed of 7 members.

Committees

Audit Committee

Compensation Committee 

Nomination and Sustainability Committee

Audit Committee

Compensation Committee 

Nomination and Sustainability Committee
Stefan Räbsamen, Chairman Eveline Saupper, Chairwoman  Yves Serra, Chairman
Peter Hackel
 Annika Paasikivi Stefan Räbsamen
Eveline Saupper Michelle Wen Ayano Senaha
Board of Directors Yves Serra

Yves Serra

Chairman of the Board of Directors
1953 (France and Switzerland)

Engineering degree from École Centrale de Paris (France); MSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA)

Board Member since 2019, Vice Chairman 2019–2020, Chairman since 2020

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Corporate Governance

  • Membership: Independent member
  • Board meeting attendance in 2024: 7/7 (attendance rate: 100%)
  • Committee meeting attendance in 2024: Nomination and Sustainability Committee: 6/6 (attendance rate: 100%)

Professional background, career

Deputy Commercial Attaché at the French Embassy in Manila, Philippines (1977–1979); Customer Service Engineer for Alstom in France and South Africa (1979–1982); various positions at Sulzer in France and Japan (1982–1992); various positions at GF (1992–2019); Managing Director of Charmilles Technologies Japan and Regional Head of Sales Asia (1992–1998); Head of Charmilles (1998–2003); Head of GF Piping Systems (2003–2008); President and CEO of Georg Fischer AG (2008–2019)

Current professional activities and involvement in governing bodies of other listed corporations

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Further professional activities and functions

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Stäubli Holding AG; member of the Board of BNP Paribas Switzerland (both Switzerland); Advisor Sustainability Committee of Recruit Holdings and of Asset Management One, Tokyo (both Japan) 

Board of Directors Eveline Saupper

Eveline Saupper

Vice Chairwoman and Independent Lead Director
1958 (Switzerland)

Dr. iur, attorney and certified Tax Expert, graduated in Law at the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland)

Board member since 2015, Vice Chairwoman and Independent Lead Director since 2024

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Corporate Governance

  • Membership: Independent member
  • Board meeting attendance in 2024: 7/7 (attendance rate: 100%)
  • Committee meeting attendance in 2024: Compensation Committee: 4/4 (attendance rate: 100%)

Professional background, career

Legal and Tax Advisor at Peat Marwick Mitchell (now KPMG Fides) (1983–1985); Attorney at Baker & McKenzie (1985–1992); Employee (1992–1994), Partner (1994–2014) and of counsel at Homburger AG (2014–2017)

Current professional activities and involvement in governing bodies of other listed corporations

Member of the Board of Directors of Clariant AG and Forbo Holding AG (both Switzerland)

Further professional activities and functions

Member of the Board of Directors of Stäubli Holding AG; member of the Board of Trustees of UZH Foundation; member of the Board of Directors of Tourismus Val Surses Savognin Bivio AG; Chairwoman of Mentex Holding AG; member of the Board of Trustees of Foundation Piz Mitgel Val Surses (all Switzerland)

Board of Directors Peter Hackel

Peter Hackel

Member of the Board of Directors
1969 (Switzerland)

Dr. sc. nat. ETH; Master and PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich (Switzerland); degree in Business Administration at the Open University of Hagen (Germany)

Board member since 2020

More Information

Corporate Governance

  • Membership: Independent member
  • Board meeting attendance in 2024: 7/7 (attendance rate: 100%)
  • Committee meeting attendance in 2024: Audit Committee: 4/4 (attendance rate: 100%)

Professional background, career

Various management positions at McKinsey and Geistlich Biomaterials in Switzerland; various management positions at Straumann Group, ultimately as Head of Group Controlling and member of Executive Management Group Straumann Group (2004–2011); CFO of the global segment Oerlikon Drive Systems (2011–2013); CFO of Straumann Group (2014–2022); CFO of Syntegon (2023–2024)

Current professional activities and involvement in governing bodies of other listed corporations

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Further professional activities and functions

Board member of the Association of Swiss CFOs (Switzerland)

Board of Directors Annika Paasikivi

Annika Paasikivi

Member of the Board of Directors
1975 (Finland)

Bachelor’s degree from the European Business School London and a Master’s degree from the University of Southampton (both in England)

Board member since 2024

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Corporate Governance

  • Membership: Independent member
  • Board meeting attendance in 2024 (since April 2024): 5/5 (attendance rate: 100%)
  • Committee meeting attendance in 2024: Compensation Committee (since April 2024): 2/2 (attendance rate: 100%)

Professional background, career

COO of Friitala Fashion (2009–2010); Integration Manager at Oras Group (2013–2015); COO of Oras Invest (2011–2018); Member of the Board of Directors of Uponor Corporation (2014–2023) and its Chair (2018–2023)

Current professional activities and involvement in governing bodies of other listed corporations

President and CEO of Oras Invest Oy and CEO of Finow Oy; Member of the Board of Directors and Vice Chair of Kemira Oyj; Member of the Board of Directors of Valmet Oyj (all Finland)

Further professional activities and functions

Member of the Supervisory Board of the Finnish Economic and Policy Forum EVA and the ETLA Economic Research Institute (since 2024) (Finland)

Board of Directors Stefan Räbsamen

Stefan Räbsamen

Member of the Board of Directors
1965 (Switzerland)

Master’s degree in Economics and Administration from the University of Bern (Switzerland), Swiss Certified Public Accountant

Board member since 2024

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Corporate Governance

  • Membership: Independent member
  • Board meeting attendance in 2024 (since April 2024): 5/5 (attendance rate: 100%)
  • Committee meeting attendance in 2024: Audit Committee (since April 2024): 3/3 (attendance rate: 100%)
  • Committee meeting attendance in 2024: Nomination and Sustainability Committee (since April 2024): 4/4 (attendance rate: 100%)

Professional background, career

Various positions at PwC Switzerland (1994–2024), from 2002 as Partner and following various management functions, as its Chairman (2019–2022). As part of his mandates for multinational companies, he was also Lead Auditor for GF (2012–2018)

Current professional activities and involvement in governing bodies of other listed corporations

Member of the Supervisory Board and Member of the Audit Committee, Takkt AG (since 2024) (Germany)

Further professional activities and functions

Independent Director in private investment entities under the administration of Golden Arc, Inc., New York (since 2024) (USA); Member of the Foundation Board, Stars – for Leaders of the Next Generation, Weinfelden and Member of the Executive Board, Zürcher Handelskammer (both since 2019) (both Switzerland)

Board of Directors Ayano Senaha

Ayano Senaha

Member of the Board of Directors
1982 (Japan)

B.A. in Economics from Waseda University Tokyo (Japan)

Board member since 2022

More Information

Corporate Governance

  • Membership: Independent member
  • Board meeting attendance in 2024: 7/7 (attendance rate: 100%)
  • Committee meeting attendance in 2024: Nomination and Sustainability Committee: 6/6 (attendance rate: 100%)

Professional background, career

Various management positions at Recruit Holdings and its group companies since 2006: Representative at Corporate Planning and Solution Sales (2006–2012); Director of Advantage Resourcing UK (2013–2015); Executive Manager at Recruit Holdings (2015–2018), located in Tokyo, Japan; Chief of Staff at Indeed Inc, Austin, USA (2018–2019)

Current professional activities and involvement in governing bodies of other listed corporations

Corporate Executive Officer at Recruit Holdings (since 2018); Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President of the Executive Committee and Member of the Board of Recruit Holdings; Board Director of Indeed Inc, Austin, USA; Director of Glassdoor Inc; Non-Executive Board of RGF Staffing B.V. Almere, Netherlands

Further professional activities and functions

Director, AI Governance Association (as voluntary organization since 2023 and as General Incorporated Association since 2024)

Board of Directors Michelle Wen

Michelle Wen

Member of the Board of Directors
1965 (France)

B.A. in International Business from American Christ’s College in Taipei (Taiwan); Economics & Accounting at the London School of Economics (UK); MBA from ESCP-EAP in Paris (France); Executive Management at INSEAD (France) and The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (USA)

Board member since 2023

More Information

Corporate Governance

  • Membership: Independent member
  • Board meeting attendance in 2024: 7/7 (attendance rate: 100%)
  • Committee meeting attendance in 2024: Compensation Committee: 4/4 (attendance rate: 100%)

Professional background, career

Several management positions at Thomson Multimedia in France and the USA (1993–1997); at Philips (now Continental AG) in Germany and France, ultimately as Senior Alliance Manager (1997–2000); at Renault-Nissan in France, ultimately as Senior Global Supplier Account Manager for Vehicle Body Purchasing (2000–2008); Vice President of Sourcing & Supplier Quality Development at Alstom Transport (2008–2012); Group Sourcing & Procurement Vice President at Vallourec in France (2012–2016); Group Supply Chain Management Technology Director & Board member at Vodafone in Luxembourg (2016–2017); several Executive Board positions at Opel Vauxhall (a Board member from 2018–2020), PSA & Stellantis Group Worldwide, ultimately as Member of the Executive Committee Management of Opel Vauxhall, PSA and Stellantis as Chief Global Purchasing & Supply Chain Officer, reporting directly to the CEO (2017–2022)

Current professional activities and involvement in governing bodies of other listed corporations

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Further professional activities and functions

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