René Lüchinger leaves Bilanz with immediate effect

The editor-in-chief of Bilanz magazine, René Lüchinger, is leaving his post with immediate effect. He is stepping down from his position after four years at his own request and in agreement with the publisher Jean Frey, the Zurich-based publishing house announced. Lüchinger wants to pursue "new challenges" outside the company. Deputy Editor-in-Chief Pierre-André Schmitt and Stefan Barmettler, member of the Editor-in-Chief, will take over as Editor-in-Chief of Bilanz on an interim basis. Both will report directly to Ralph Büchi, CEO of Jean Frey. Büchi was rather muted about Lüchinger's departure: "It is part of everyday life in the media industry that changes occur at the top of an editorial team". An immediate departure is common: "If an editor-in-chief decides to leave a publication, the change should take place as quickly as possible". Lüchinger will continue to oversee the completion of the current issue and say goodbye to the readers.
In June, the publishing group Jean Frey and Handelszeitung, which belongs to Axel Springer and publishes the investor magazine Stocks as well as Bilanz, experienced another change of editor-in-chief: Hansjörg Ryser stepped down from the management of Stocks and was replaced by Urs Aeberli
(see ). The two cases have nothing to do with each other, Büchi told Werbewoche. An amicable solution had also been found with Ryser. He is now head of the finance department at Bilanz.