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My first “Patrouille des Glaciers”

by Romain Pidoux

On April 20th I had the opportunity to participate to the “Patrouille des Glaciers” (PDG). This ski mountaineering race by team, founded in 1943, is organized every two years by the Swiss army and is open to military and civilian: the patrols. It takes place on the alpine ridges south of the Valais state, between Zermatt, Arolla and Verbier.

Cartographie PDG

Ten months ago, in the balmy Indian summer, my friends Mathieu Liechti, Antoine Guesry and I were in discussion to arrange our ski season when Mathieu suggested to be part of this legendary race that is the PDG. This event allowed us to combine our passion for mountain, skiing and hiking. At that time we did not realize the implication this race imposes in terms of training: it requires excellent physical condition but also great determination and unwavering support among team members. It is indeed, as described by Colonel Max Contesse, commander of the PDG, the “spirit of roped” prevailing in this race. Following our decision, I started talking with my business associates. As you may know, Notz Stucki counts many athletes, there is not a day without a running session from some of my colleagues during lunch break. Quite naturally my co-workers supported our team and motivated us in our project that meets all of the company’s values which are devotion, sharing and hard working. Moreover, as we have several ex-patrollers in the company such as Maya Page and Frédéric Chollet, and I was able to profit from their prior experiences of the PDG.

Eventually, the departure’s shot rang in the middle of the night. Accompanied by a thousand of patrollers, we get into this peaks’ conquest for which we had spent so much time accumulating miles of hiking. These sacrifices were worthwhile the astounding view of mountains lit by patrollers’ light cord:

Picture1

At dawn, sky’s colour rewarded us of efforts already made and gave us strength for the rest of this adventure:

sky colour

In the morning we reached the last difficult transition: climbing the thousand steps of the Rosa Blanche:

Rosa Blanche

This event is often presented as the race of all superlatives … in the case of our “patrol” I would describe it as a great human adventure.

See you in two years!

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Antonio Mira
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, MEMBER OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Antonio Mira joined NS Partners in 2006 as Group Chief Financial Officer. He heads the corporate functions and is involved in coordinating and implementing the decisions of the Executive Committee.
An experienced bank auditor, Antonio started his career in 1995 with Arthur Andersen, where he worked for some 7 years before joining Ernst & Young in 2002 as a Senior Manager.
Antonio is a Swiss chartered accountant and a Business graduate of Lausanne University (HEC).

Sébastien Poiret
DEPUTY HEAD OF WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Sébastien Poiret joined NS Partners in 2008 and manages funds of hedge funds and private client mandates. He also oversees the development of the Group’s offices in Mauritius.

Prior to joining NS Partners, he served as a Trader, Head of Manager research and Portfolio Manager in the USA and Switzerland for a single hedge fund (1998-2004) and for Optimal (2004-2008), Grupo Santander’s fund-of-hedge funds operations.

Sébastien holds a Bachelor’s degree in Corporate Finance from the ESPEME Business School (EDHEC Group) and an MBA in Finance and Economics from the Institute of Business Administration, both in Nice.

Abir Oreibi
BOARD DIRECTOR

Abir Oreibi joined the Board of the NS Partners Group in 2018, where she brings her truly international perspective and rich experience.
Among many other ventures, Abir set up Alibaba.com’s first European office. After living and working in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok and London, she now lives in Geneva, where she is CEO of Lift Events, an organization that identifies technology trends, their business and social impact through the organization of events and open innovation programs. Issues related to the challenges and opportunities created by new technologies as well as the strategic responses from organizations are at the heart of Lift’s activities.
Abir holds a BA in Political Sciences from the University of Geneva. She is an investor, and member of advisory and innovation boards.

Romain Pidoux, CAIA

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Romain Pidoux joined NS Partners in 2011 and heads the Group’s Risk Management.
He started his financial career in 2005 as Head of Quantitative Analysis for a Swiss Family Office, selecting funds and managing portfolio allocation. In 2008, he switched to the alternative world and joined Peak Partners as hedge funds analyst.
He is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) and holds a Master’s degree in international relations from the Graduate Institute of International Studies at Geneva University.

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