Mirjana Wojtal, PhD

CEO

E: mirjana.wojtal@cfasocietyswitzerland.org

P: 0041 44 382 4244

Mirjana is Chief Executive Officer for the CFA Society Switzerland, one of the largest CFA Institute societies globally. She is responsible for implementing the Society's overall strategy and management. Core to her mandate is continuing to deliver outstanding member value, providing quality, independent and reliable content and resources for multiple key stakeholders and promoting high ethical standards in the investment industry. In her leadership role, Mirjana oversees all the Society’s staff and operations. Before assuming a role of CEO of CFA Society Switzerland, Mirjana was co-leading the University Relations Commitee where she was responsible for the strategy development and execution of the CFA Institute Research Challenge. Mirjana also worked with volunteer committees to execute successful Swiss Pensions and Generations Conferences. She further developed and maintained various initiatives in an ongoing effort to deliver, improve and refine Society's programs to its members. Mirjana is a trained neurobiologist and has previously worked as a scientific advisor and program director in a NPO, family office and at the University of Zurich and University of Groningen. 

Jan-Ulrich Salchow

Jan joined ECOFIN Investment Consulting AG in 2016 and is responsible for the selection and monitoring of investment managers with a research focus on active strategies and alternative investments (hedge funds, ILS and private equity and private infrastructure). As an architect by training, he is also involved in real estate related investments as well. Prior to joining ECOFIN, Jan spent more than 10 years at UBS in Zurich and Hamburg in investment related positions and as a hedge fund analyst. Later, he worked for the Max Planck Foundation in Munich as an investment manager responsible for hedge funds and equity strategies.

Jan holds a degree in architecture from the University of Hamburg and is a CFA and CAIA charterholder. At the Swiss Society of the CFA Institute, Jan is currently Chair of the organizing committee of the CFA Swiss Pensions Conference.

Lela Prodani

Lela Prodani is a seasoned investment professional with extensive experience in managing multi-asset institutional investor portfolios. She currently serves as an Executive Director - Senior Portfolio Manager at Pensionskasse der Credit Suisse Group (Schweiz), responsible for the oversight of a multi-billion Alternatives portfolio for the pension fund. Previously, Lela held the position of Investment Director at a multi-family office / OCIO in New York, as well as at a healthcare endowment in Saint Louis, Missouri. In these roles, Lela spearheaded due diligence efforts across various asset classes with a focus on private markets. Lela holds CFA and CIPM certifications. She earned a BA in International Business / Finance and an MBA from Webster University. 

James Grant, editor of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, is the author, most recently, of Friends Until the End: Edmund Burke and Charles James Fox in the Age of Revolution . A former teenage Navy gunner’s mate, he is a Phi Beta Kappa alumnus of Indiana University.

coming soon...

After his studies in economics at the University of Berne (1992 to 1998), Stefan Fahrländer worked at the German Institute for Economic Research DIW in Berlin. His research topics were direct and indirect taxation of households in Germany. From 1998 to 2001 and from 2003 to 2005 he worked for the real estate consultancy Wüest & Partner in Zurich where he analysed real estate markets and developed and implemented statistical real estate valuation models

From 2001 to 2002 he was employed by the Swiss Ministry of Defence to serve as a Military Observer with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization UNTSO in the Middle East.

From 2003 to 2005 Stefan Fahrländer studied applied statistics at the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. In summer 2006 he published his PhD thesis on the hedonic analysis of Swiss markets for private properties. 

He founded Fahrländer Partner Raumentwicklung in January 2006.

He teaches at the CUREM of the University of Zurich, at the University of St. Gallen, at the Bern University of Applied Sciences, at the Institut für Finanzdienstleistungen Zug (IFZ/HSLU) as well as at the Swiss Finance Institute. He is also a member of the board of the Swiss Real Estate Investment Data Association REIDA as well as manager of the Association for Real Estate Meta-Rating and Monitoring on Sustainability REMMS.

Zoltan Szelyes, CFA, CAIA is a European real estate research and investment expert with 20+ years’ experience. He is CEO of Macro Real Estate AG, a leading independent advisory firm based in Switzerland advising institutional investors and investment managers.

Previously Head of Global Real Estate Research at Credit Suisse AM, he also held senior roles at the Swiss National Bank (Member of the Executive Management of SNB StabFund). Zoltan began his career as a research analyst at Credit Suisse in 2004.

Al Breach

Al Breach is co-Founder and co-CIO / Lead PM of Gemsstock Limited, the Investment Manager of the Gemsstock Fund, a global macro strategy. Al has managed the Gemsstock Fund (previously the Gemsstock Growth Fund) since late 2010. During 2003-2007 he was the Head of Research, Economist and Strategist for Brunswick UBS in Moscow. From 1998-2003 he was the Russia Economist for Goldman Sachs. Al also co–founded The Browser.com.

Christian H. Mueller-Glissmann, CFA 

Christian heads asset allocation research within portfolio strategy. He also writes research on derivatives with a focus on dividends, volatility and correlation.
Christian is a member of the Structured Research Products Working Group and the Macro Model Review Working Group. He is also a trustee of the firm’s UK Defined Benefit Pension Scheme and member of its investment committee. Previously, Christian worked on the Tactical Research Group, focused on quantitative investment strategies. Prior to that, he worked in derivatives trading
in Frankfurt. Christian joined Goldman Sachs in 2005 as an analyst and was named managing director in 2015.
His work has been published in academic journals such as the Financial Analysts Journal and The Journal of Portfolio Management. He received a Graham and Dodd Award and a Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs
Levy Award for his research articles. Christian earned a master's degree in Finance and Management from the University of Mannheim. He also studied at Warwick Business School and ESSEC
Business School. Christian is a CFA charterholder.

Philip Rauh

Philip Rauh joined Swiss Life Asset Managers in 2021 and leads fund and portfolio management, controlling, reporting, and product development for all Infrastructure Funds. He oversees infrastructure marketing and sales activities, including fundraising campaigns, and drives the design and launch of new investment products. Additionally, he is responsible for budgeting, planning, and asset valuation forecasts.

With nearly two decades of experience in finance and investment management, Philip has held leadership roles at responsAbility Investments AG, Taurus Investment Holdings, Credit Suisse, and Value Dynamics, among others. His expertise spans global business development, investor relations, and financial operations.

Philip holds a Master’s degree in International Economics from the Geneva Graduate Institute and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the University of Geneva.

Laurens Swinkels

Laurens Swinkels is Head of Solutions Research and member of the Investment Solutions team. His area of expertise includes empirical asset pricing. He teaches Finance courses and has published his academic work in peer-reviewed journals. Prior to re-joining Robeco in 2016, he was a Researcher at Norges Bank Investment Management. He was a Researcher at Robeco from 2004 to 2012 and at PensionFactory and APG Asset Management from 1999 to 2004. Laurens holds a part-time position (with tenure) at Erasmus University Rotterdam and is member of the Research Committee of Inquire Europe. Laurens holds a PhD in Finance and a Master’s in Econometrics from Tilburg University.