Expertise and Experience

Strategic consulting and aligning all communications with positioning, goals, and strategies require expertise and experience.

For over 25 years, I have analyzed and evaluated companies, including their positioning, and market and competitive setting. These analyses were also used for investment decisions.

As a member of various executive and supervisory boards, I have developed and implemented corporate and product strategies, and communicated them to a wide range of stakeholders.

For over 35 years, I have designed and delivered lectures, presentations, and talks, published analyses and reports, and communicated effectively with diverse audiences.

In direct communication, I’ve addressed groups ranging from a handful of people to more than 2,000. I regularly coach presenters—especially for small-group settings—in both English and German.

Request a Proposal

Feel free to call or email me with any requests or questions. You can also click the «Query» tab on the right or use the «Request an offer» button in the «My Services» section of the menu.

Even if you don’t find exactly what you’re looking for, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Hirzel.Neef.Schmid.Counselors has been leading for more than 28 years in communications and business consulting in Switzerland. With our knowledge and experience, it’s highly unlikely that we won’t be able to support you with a need, a task, or a challenge.

As equal partners with partly overlapping and partly complementary expertise we’ll find the right person and the best solution for you, even if that solution hasn’t been outlined here.

About me

My school years had a focus on the sciences, with mathematics and physics as core subjects up to my final exams at Herder-Gymnasium in Minden, Westphalia. A subsequent banking apprenticeship at Sparkasse Minden-Lübbecke sparked my interest in economics.

I pursued my studies in Freiburg (Germany) and Madison, Wisconsin (USA). During my graduate and post-graduate studies I taught mathematics and probability theory to economics students at the Institute for General Economic Research. I earned my doctorate at the University of Freiburg in the Department of Statistics and Econometrics, with a dissertation on decision theory.

I have lived in Switzerland for 27 years now. I originally came here as an analyst at Schweizerischer Bankverein (Swiss Bank Corporation), later becoming Head of Asset Management and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at a bank and several asset management firms.

In executive roles, whether as a member of the executive board, the extended executive board, or the board of directors, I was responsible for strategic positioning and market positioning, as well as for communicating them.

I am active in youth education and in various associations and nonprofit organizations. I have a seat on the advisory board of the Horst-Görtz-Foundation, which since more than 20 years awards the German IT Security Prize, recognizing the most innovative solutions and concepts in cybersecurity. I head the Swiss Chapter of the Alumni Association of the University of Freiburg.