Urs Meisterhans is a recognized figure in the Swiss financial services and advisory industries. With relevant experience in finance, advisory, consulting, and compliance, as well as a passion for philanthropic pursuits and high-impact technologies, Urs Meisterhans has established himself as a capable leader and sought-after advisor to numerous companies, businesses, and organizations, both within the for-profit as well as the non-profit sectors.
Urs Meisterhans currently serves as President and CEO of Summus Solutions NV, an oil and gas exploration company with a majority interest in oil and natural gas reserves in Alberta, Canada. He is also the Director at Prinz Von Preussen Capital Ltd., one of Switzerland’s premier financial services companies. Urs Meisterhans is also a Strategic Advisor to IonoTerra, an Israeli company that has developed a groundbreaking solution for earthquake prediction. Earthquakes cost the global economy tens of billions of dollars in losses and damages every year, as well as countless deaths and the loss of livelihood to affected individuals and families. Urs Meisterhans and the IonoTerra team hope to lessen these losses by bringing life-saving earthquake prediction technologies to the countries and regions that need them most.
Urs Meisterhans’ Early Career
For Urs Meisterhans, leadership positions at high-value, disruptive businesses have been a recurring theme throughout his 40-year career.
He began his professional training at Bankgesellschaft – now UBS – in 1978, from where he received the ‘Banker with Federal Diplomas’ certification in 1981. He then began working at HSBC’s Zurich office but moved to New York City as a Corporate Finance Trainee at the Nordic American Banking Corporation in 1982. He then moved back to Zurich and joined NordFinanz Bank as the Assistant Vice President Group Head of Corporate Finance and Credits. During this time, he attended the Swiss Banking School – now the Swiss Finance Institute – from where he graduated in 1991.
By 1992, Urs Meisterhans had the international experience, educational qualifications, and career accomplishments to take on larger roles with higher impact at some of the biggest financial services companies in the world. After leaving NordFinanz at the end of 1992, Urs Meisterhans joined Rothschild Bank AG as the Senior Vice President Head of Credits before being selected as Rothchild’s Group Head of Private Banking. During this time, in a nod toward his passion for helping others and improving customer outcomes, Urs Meisterhans was selected to be an advisor to STEP – the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners – a Geneva-based institution that helps professionals maintain exceptional client services standards.
Leadership, advisory, and consulting soon became hallmarks of Urs Meisterhans’ unique offerings to the organizations he has been associated with. Urs Meisterhans has held a position on the Advisory Board for Overseas Reinsurance Agents AG since 2005, and he was also the Founder and Principal of Swiss-based Sinitus AG – a financial services company – until he departed from the company in 2013. He also served as Chairman of MISTRAL Media – a boutique tech company that focuses on premium search traffic – and has served as an Advisor to the International Red Cross, Red Crescent, and the Broad Art Foundation.
Coming Full Circle
While financial services and advisory have been at the core of Urs Meisterhans’ career, he continues to direct his energy toward value-added initiatives at global companies. At Summus Solutions and IonoTerra, he is focused on renewable energy and loss mitigation technologies, respectively. However, he also recently joined Digital Transaction Ltd., a Hong Kong-based blockchain startup, as a Board Member. Here, Urs Meisterhans leverages his 40+ years of experience to turbocharge Digital Transactions’ business development and growth and has formally entered the blockchain space. While the industries he has worked in are markedly different, Urs Meisterhans says he hopes to continue his career-long focus on leadership and delivering value to clients and corporate partners.
