The annual general meetings of the Ethos Foundation and Ethos Services approved all items on the agenda and re-elected the members of the Foundation board and the board of directors for a one-year term of office. For its 25th anniversary, Ethos Services presented a sustainability report prepared with reference to the GRI reporting standards to its shareholders for approval. The general meeting also featured a presentation on artificial intelligence and corporate digital responsibility, and announced the launch of new training modules on sustainable finance offered by Ethos.
The 2025 annual general meetings (AGM) of the Ethos Foundation and Ethos Services SA were held on 17 June in Bern. All items on the agenda were approved and the current members of both boards were re-elected for another year.
Ethos Services shareholders unanimously approved the 2024 integrated annual report, which was prepared for the first time with reference to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. “Ethos has been asking Swiss-listed companies for several years to publish a sustainability report in accordance with an internationally recognised reporting standard”, emphasises Vincent Kaufmann, CEO of the Foundation. “This gives credibility to the report and, above all, allows for comparison from one year to the next and between companies. By publishing its annual report by following recognised standards, Ethos is showing that even a small company with around 40 employees can engage in this exercise and demonstrate transparency."
For this first report, Ethos has not only demonstrated transparency but has also submitted certain non-financial indicators to independent third-party verification, another of its requirements for listed companies. The company Forvis Mazars carried out this audit and issued a ‘limited assurance’ for around 15 indicators, starting with direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions.
Digital responsibility and Ethos training on the agenda
As every year, this meeting was also an opportunity for the members of the Ethos Foundation and the shareholders of Ethos Services, the vast majority of which are Swiss pension funds, to discuss the latest developments in sustainable finance. For the 2025 edition, Michael Wade, director of the TONOMUS – Global Centre for Digital and AI Transformation and Professor of Digital Transformation Strategy at IMD, gave a presentation on corporate digital responsibility and artificial intelligence. He highlighted the many challenges this poses for institutional investors such as pension funds.
Finally, this annual meeting provided an opportunity to announce the official launch of the new training modules on sustainable finance offered by Ethos. This comprehensive training course, lasting a total of approximately one and a half days, enables anyone interested in responsible investment, starting with representatives of pension funds, to learn the fundamentals of sustainable finance at their own pace. The five modules that make up the basic course – introduction to sustainability, fiduciary duty, regulation, investment decisions and stewardship – are now available on the dedicated online training platform.
2024 Integrated Annual Report (in French)
