Silke Waterstraat
Member of the Board of Directors
Experience
Jan 2024 - Present
1 year 6 months Solothurn, Switzerland
Member of the Board of Directors
Old-Age and Survivors' Insurance (AHV) Compensation Office of the Canton of Solothurn
- Public, independent organization of the 1st pillar of the Swiss pension system with CHF 1.5 billion distributed pension insurance benefits and CHF 0.5 billion in pension insurance contributions.
- Responsible for audit, risk management, finance/budgeting, investments and human resources.
Apr 2023 - Mar 2024
1 year Geneva, Switzerland
Chairperson of the Audit and Oversight Advisory Committee (AOAC)
United Nations, International Organization for Migration
- The IOM is the principal UN agency working in the field of migration. The IOM promotes humane and orderly migration by providing services and advice to governments and migrants with a budget of > USD 4bn and staff of >19’000.
- Elected as Chairperson for a one-year rotating term as per practiced Terms of Reference:
- Represented the AOAC on the Standard Committee on Programmes and Finance, SCPF (2023, 2024) and Annual Meeting of the Chairpersons of the Audit Committees of the UN System (2023, 2024).
- Setting the board’s agenda and ensuring appropriate governance.
- Maintaining a culture of open discussions and exchange with the organization and external stakeholders (e.g., external auditor, ambassadors of member states).
Dec 2022 - Jun 2024
1 year 7 months Geneva, Switzerland
External Member Investment Committee
United Nations, International Organization for Migration
- The IOM is the principal UN agency working in the field of migration. The IOM promotes humane and orderly migration by providing services and advice to governments and migrants with a budget of > USD 4bn and staff of >19’000.
- Delegated, non-voting member to the Investment Committee elaborating investment proposals to the Treasury Risk Committee.
May 2022 - Jun 2024
2 years 2 months Geneva, Switzerland
External Member Treasury Risk Committee
United Nations, International Organization for Migration
- The IOM is the principal UN agency working in the field of migration. The IOM promotes humane and orderly migration by providing services and advice to governments and migrants with a budget of > USD 4bn and staff of >19’000.
- Delegated, non-voting member to the Treasury Risk Committee managing the investments of IOM (AuM USD 1.7bn).
- Further development of the investment policy and performance and risk benchmarks.
- Segregation of duties in the treasury section.
- Establishment of the current treasury committee structure.
Mar 2021 - Present
4 years 4 months Möhlin, Switzerland
Member of the Board of Directors
Raiffeisenbank Moehlin
- Regional cooperative bank with balance sheet of CHF 1.2 billion and 4 branches.
- Representing risk management, treasury and market expertise on the board.
- Additionally, initiated and supervised the following project:
- Initiation and management of the business development project corporate / transaction banking
- Member of the Nomination Committee for the recruitment of the new CEO (03 / 2023 – 12 / 2023)
Nov 2020 - Present
4 years 8 months Geneva, Switzerland
Member Audit and Oversight Advisory Committee (AOAC)
United Nations, International Organization for Migration
- The IOM is the principal UN agency working in the field of migration. The IOM promotes humane and orderly migration by providing services and advice to governments and migrants with a budget of > USD 4bn and staff of >19’000.
- The AOAC is overseeing internal audit, risk management, investigations and evaluations and finance.
- The Committee further interacts regularly with HR, Ethics and the Ombudsman.
- Besides my responsibility for finance, risk management and Treasury, I initiated and supervised the following projects:
- Elaboration and sounding of a committee workplan for the AOAC.
Jan 2020 - Present
5 years 6 months Wallbach, Switzerland
CEO / Owner
Certon GmbH
- Consulting firm in the area of finance, treasury, accounting and corporate governance.
- Successfully acquired and currently working on the following projects:
- ETH Zurich (from 02/2025): Responsible lecturer for Introduction to Finance and Advanced Finance, including financial statement analysis, budgeting, investment decisions, treasury, risk management.
- Biogas Zurich AG (since 09/2024): External secretary to the board providing as well management and financial reporting, budgeting and governance support during M&A phase.
- Zurich Insurance Group (2021-2023): IFRS 9 implementation – member of the leadership team within the Investment Accounting and Administration department of Zurich’s investment management section. Responsible for overarching topics, e.g., external audit, ECL methodology, business model assignments.
- Kalaidos University (2020-2022): Lecturer in bank controlling.
Jan 2020 - Dec 2023
4 years Düsseldorf, Germany
Member of the Scientific Board
Cryco Think Tank
- Think tank for future research in connection with financial and economic issues.
Jan 2019 - Dec 2020
2 yearsBoard of Directors / Committee Member
Swiss Bankers Association
- Represented Swiss Bankers Association at Economiesuisse (commission for research and education), Swiss Conference of the Commercial Training Professions (SKKAB), SAQ Standards Committee, etc. discussing banking regulation at highest political levels.
Jan 2018 - Present
7 years 6 months Basel, Switzerland
Lecturer, Institute for Finance (80% Pensum)
University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland
- Lecturer in the area of management accounting/controlling, treasury, digital finance (SAP FICO, Python), corporate governance, sustainable finance and banking on bachelor, master and executive education level.
- Achievements:
- Executive education: Won public tender on firm-wide, multi-year sustainable finance (including regulation, controlling and reporting) education for Basel Cantonal Bank. Established an international double degree program on bank treasury risk management.
- Research: Won public tender from the Swiss Federal Office on Spatial Development ARE for practice-oriented research on sustainable finance embedding in civil society.
Jan 2018 - Dec 2020
2 years Basel, Switzerland
Chairperson of the Audit Committee & Member of the Board of Directors
Familea
- With more than 700 employees, familea is one of the largest employers in the area of childcare in Switzerland.
- Responsible for financial management, audit including the interaction with the external auditor, controlling/budgeting and review of the financial statements.
- Key initiatives brought forward were as follows:
- Standardization of management reporting, revision of the cost allocation method, improvement of the internal control system.
Jan 2016 - Jul 2020
3 years 7 months Basel, Switzerland
Member of the Extended Executive Board, Head CEO and Board Office (88% Pensum)
Swiss Bankers Association
- Led the CEO office for the day-to-day management of the secretariat (60 FTE) aiming to influence regulatory (in particular Basel III, sustainable finance) and legislative initiatives in banking, asset management, etc.
- Strategic advisory and agenda setting at board of directors’ level, monitoring of corporate governance guidelines, strategic priority setting, leadership of projects (e.g., culture change, restructuring), management of various external stakeholders (regulatory bodies, other associations) and membership fee strategy / budgeting.
Jan 2015 - Dec 2017
2 years Basel, Switzerland
Senior Group Governmental Affairs Advisor
UBS
- Project leader for advocacy work in the area of conduct, treasury (e.g., Liquidity & Funding, Basel III), operational risk, remuneration and corporate governance.
- Team leader.
Jan 2015 - Dec 2016
2 years Basel, Switzerland
Head of Commercial Viability (Business CFO), UBS Asset Management
UBS
- Responsible for setting up and implementing a commercial viability/KPI framework within product management across all asset classes pension products in order to steer the economic profitability of the Asset Management division and for the financial reporting of the funds and strategies (invested assets USD 1.1 trillion).
Jan 2010 - Dec 2015
5 years Basel, Switzerland
Chief of Staff / Chief Administration Officer, Group Treasury & Secretary to the Group ALCO
UBS
- Direct report to the Group Treasurer. Treasury (FTE > 200) compromised a CHF 75m operating budget and CHF 500bn+ balance sheet generating CHF 1bn of gross revenues.
- Set the agenda, authored proposals in a variety of treasury / ALM areas (FX risk management, liquidity reserve management (100bn debt portfolio), interest rate risk management strategies, Repo, XVA, etc.) for the Group ALCO. Responsible for the communication of decisions and follow-up work and coordination with the GEB, BoD RC and BoD. Continued below mentioned Treasury reporting work.
- Oversight across regulatory relationships worldwide for Treasury, internal control, human resources, IT planning (budget CHF 350m), vendor management as well as cost/budget management.
- Interface to external auditors.
Jan 2009 - Dec 2011
2 years Basel, Switzerland
Director Treasury Reporting
UBS
- Provided external quarterly and annual reporting, and management reporting to the Group ALCO and the Bod RC.
- Additionally, held a number of controlling responsibilities, including Treasury budgeting, P&L tracking and internal cost allocation.
Jan 2008 - Dec 2010
3 years Basel, Switzerland
Director, FX Risk Management - Group Finance
Ciba (now part of BASF)
- Led the treasury department’s short- and long-term hedging activities for Northern and Eastern Europe, and advised all of Asia (excluding Japan) on local hedging strategies.
- Member of Hedge Report Meeting, with Group CFO and Group Treasurer, to develop hedging strategies for main FX, IR and commodity risks.
- Supported the management of the pension fund.
Jan 2007 - Dec 2009
2 years Basel, Switzerland
Financial Analyst, Investment Research
Basel Cantonal Bank
- Progressed rapidly to financial analyst for energy and communication sectors globally.
- Managed a multi-asset class portfolio of CHF 1.5bn including pension assets; monitored, purchased and sold stocks for discretionary mandates.
- Responsible for the bank-wide bond recommendation list.
- Provided buy-side analysis and recommendations for private banking advisory clients.
- Successfully set up the sustainable mandates product line.
Jan 2005 - Dec 2008
2 years Basel, Switzerland
Portfolio Manager
Basel Cantonal Bank
- Member of a four-person team which executed investment decisions made by the investment research team, and managed under- and over-weighting equities and bonds.
Jan 2004 - Dec 2006
2 years Zürich, Switzerland
Assistant Investment Management
HSZ Group
- Performed cash management of funds, share register and deal settlement, and NAV / performance fee calculation of investment funds for an HSBC Guyerzeller Bank spinoff that specialised in listed Chinese / Asian equities.
- Supported investment reporting including pension funds.
Jan 2004 - Dec 2005
2 years Herisau, Switzerland
Junior Investment Professional
Säntis Investment
- Recruited to cold call private and institutional investors for investment in a start-up private equity fund, and to research potential investment targets, namely start-up biotech companies.
- Worked on sales brochures, website and events.
Internship
Bosch
- Internship during university studies (European Union Scholarship).
Internship
DAAD / EU
- Internship during university studies.
Internship
Daimler
- Internship during university studies.
Internship
Manpower
- Internship during university studies.
Summary
Silke is a senior finance executive with 20+ years experience in finance, audit, risk management and treasury / asset and liability management.
She has built a demonstrable track record in external and internal reporting and budgeting as well as investment management and corporate governance.
She is lecturing in bachelor, master and executive programs. She is experienced in the financial sector, NGOs, the chemical industry and academia.
Languages
German
Native
English
Advanced
French
Advanced
Japanese
Intermediate
Education
University of St Gallen
PhD, Accounting, Controlling and Auditing · Business Administration · St. Gallen, Switzerland
RWTH Aachen University
Master’s in Industrial and Organisational Psychology · Industrial and Organisational Psychology · Aachen, Germany
Karlsgymnasium
Stuttgart, Germany
Certifications & licenses
Certificate of Advanced Studies Board of Directors
University of Applied Sciences Lucerne
Python for Everybody
University of Michigan
Certificate of Higher Education
University of Basel
Certified International Investment Analyst (CIIA)
AZEK / CFPI, Zurich
Federal Diploma in Financial Analysis and Asset Management
AZEK / CFPI, Zurich
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