Andre Hoffmann

MBA’90D

Non-executive Vice-Chairman of the Board, Roche Holding Ltd

Andre started his studies in medicine at Geneva medical school and then continued in economics at St Gallen, Switzerland, where his interest in business was awakened. After a two year internship with Rothmans in South Africa he returned to his roots in Southern France where he became administrator at Station Biologique de la Tour du Valat, a research centre for the conservation of Mediterranean wetlands. It is here that Andre’s lifelong interest in conservation began.

After two years of working in conservation, Andre moved to London as research analyst at James Capel and Co and it was whilst he was there, that he began to think about doing an MBA.

“At the time there was much talk about how US schools were dominating business education but ideally I wanted to go to a European school. I looked at Harvard, IMD and INSEAD. I chose INSEAD mainly because of its great reputation, the fact that the course was for one year and that spouses were welcomed and included in the INSEAD community.”

“My year at INSEAD was amazing; here I was 32 years old spending a whole year just focusing on my personal development. I really enjoyed the intellectual stimulus and learning how to deal with a wide variety of problems. It was fascinating.”

Whilst he was at INSEAD Andre’s first child was born. “It happened the day of my first Finance exam, which didn’t make the exam any easier I can tell you.”
Although many people cite diversity as a key reason for choosing INSEAD for their MBA, for André it was second nature. He has an Austrian mother with Russian origins, a Swiss German father, an English wife and he grew up in France.

“INSEAD also helped me to see that my early exposure to different cultures and nationalities was a strength that I could put to advantage in tackling diverse business situations and this gave me a totally new perspective. Before I went to INSEAD I didn’t always know how to solve problems and from which perspective - now I had a set of tools - a toolbox if you will - to deal with most situation.”

When Andre graduated from INSEAD in December 1990 he went to work in a marketing role at Nestle - “a move I couldn’t have made if it had not been for INSEAD.”
In 1992 Andre decided to concentrate his time and energies on private investment activities and the company founded by his great-grandfather, Roche. Andre has been on the Board of Roche since 1996 and the Vice Chairman for the last six years.

“I am proud of this achievement and the fact that I manage several of our family charities. I also play an active role in various conservation organisations. I enjoy the same quality of dialogue in all three areas of my business life and like to believe that I have built a bridge between the world of business and the world of conservation.”

“My ambition in the short term is to continue this agenda and in the longer term to be part of a solution to solve our ‘overshoot’ of the world’s natural resources and to make this an international debate. If I succeed in this long term ambition and manage to defend and perpetuate my family holdings, then I think that that is how I would like to be remembered.”
Andre sits on the Boards of several companies including Givaudan Ltd. (Vice President), Switzerland; Glyndebourne Productions Ltd., UK; Brunswick Leasing Ltd., Russia; Amazentis SA, Switzerland; MedAssurant Inc., USA; Genentech Inc., USA; and as Chairman of Nemadi Advisors Ltd., UK and Living Planet Fund Management Co, Luxemburg.

Andre is also a member of the Board of INSEAD and is an active Board member of conservation and charitable organisation Boards, including WWF (World Wild Fund for Nature), Vice President; Paul Sacher Stiftung, Switzerland; Global Footprint Network, USA; ISIS (International Sustainability Innovation Council), Switzerland; Peace Parks Foundation, South Africa; Fondation Tour du Valat, France and FIBA (Fondation International du Banc d’Arguin), Mauritania.