Philipp Hildebrand is a Swiss banker whose private/public sector versatility is well-known. After a long period in academia, he started to work in the banking and investment sector. Afterwards, he turned towards the Swiss public sector.

The atypical journey of Hildebrand began during his adolescence. After living in the US while his father worked at IBM, he eventually returned to Switzerland where he won two swimming championships. He then sought passed a long time in academia, culminating with his PhD thesis defence at Oxford on “International Environmental Politics in the Case of the European Union” in  1994.

Hildebrand has been involved in the private sector, especially in banking and investment management. After his studies, he held the Chief Investment Officer position for Swiss banks. He finally joined the BlackRock group, one of the biggest investment management firms in the world, where he currently serves as Vice-Chairman. He also experienced work life in the public sector.

At age 40, Hildebrand was nominated as the youngest board member of Swiss National Bank (SNB). He succeeded Jean-Pierre Roth seven years later, to take over as SNB’s head. During an interview, Hildebrand expressed how the Institute forged his career path focused on global issues. During his mandate, he was also named Director of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and Swiss Governor of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).