The Premise

Build the next decade. Protect what you have built.

Capital stewardship connects allocation, governance, and incentive design into a single system. The boards that see this clearly move faster and with more precision.

Let's talk
Awareness

See what was always there.

Your capital stewardship position, the levers available to your company, and where your strengths come to light.

See It in Practice
Perspectives

Let's shape the next decade.

The Pull or Push series. Selected writing on capital stewardship, governance design, and how boards build earning capacity that lasts.

Read the Series
Envision

Where you want to go, and what it takes to get there.

Where you are, what is important to you, and what you want to achieve. See your starting position and where your room to act is strongest.

See Your Starting Position
Execution

Leapfrog the next chapter.

Where you are, your starting position, and what could be possible. It begins with a first exchange.

Let's talk
CEO Priorities

Every priority list covers AI and geopolitics. Capital allocation ranks high in 12 of 31.

More than 40% of CEOs say their companies started competing in new sectors within the last five years. The question is where capital goes next and how governance keeps pace with the speed of reallocation.

Consultancies, investors and industry bodies publish regular CEO and board surveys. AI ranks high in 24 of 31. Capital allocation ranks high in 12.

The CEO Priorities Tracker synthesizes 31 of these sources into a single quarterly view. See where they converge, where they diverge, and where the capital stewardship question sits in the picture.

Open the CEO Priorities Tracker
61%
of CEOs say their boards are rushing AI transformation.

BCG, Split Decisions: CEOs and Boards Survey, May 2026

The Framework

Where capital stewardship meets governance design

Extended Shareholder Return™ connects three levers that are most powerful when they work as a single system.

Capital Allocation

Your capital decisions, seen through the lens of future earning capacity.

Governance Design

Your governance structures, connected to the time frame your strategy lives in.

Incentive Architecture

Your compensation design, measured against the transformation you are investing in.

Three dimensions. One view. Together, they reveal how capital allocation, governance, and incentives interact in a company.

Explore the Extended Shareholder Return™ Framework
What the framework found

Calibrated. Versioned. Verified.

The Extended Shareholder Return™ analysis reads what is already disclosed in audited annual reports and public filings. The framework measured more than 100 companies across 11 sectors, and the observation base continues to grow. Three were classified Asset Depletion Risk. All three entered insolvency within 12 to 24 months.

The structural inputs were constant in every measured year. The market believed the cycle. The framework read the structure.

Spotlight
Meyer Burger
Manufacturing, Switzerland
FY2018 to FY2023
Rev. CAGR-20%
'19
-38%
'20
+62%
'21
+21%
'22
+49%
'23
-63%
Terminal
-100%
Annual returns adjusted for the rights issues of 2020 (13 for 7 at CHF 0.09) and 2022 (7 for 20 at CHF 0.267). Delisted 14 January 2026; shareholders received nothing.
UN Global Compact
Chief Sustainability Officer
Global Reporting Initiative
EU Taxonomy (not disclosed)
Insolvency May 2025
Asset Preservation Explorer
Resource allocation
Lifecycle extension
Circular value
Revenue Direction
Value chain
Ecosystem
UN Global Compact member. Chief Sustainability Officer appointed. Reports with reference to the Global Reporting Initiative. Three dots green. Where do the bars place the asset base?
Spotlight
Corsa Coal
Extractives, Canada / Pennsylvania
FY2019 to FY2023
Rev. CAGR-4%
'20
+9%
'21
+83%
'22
-69%
'23
+100%
'24
-48%
Terminal
Halted
FY2023 is the last annual report. No trade since 3 January 2025; assets sold in Chapter 11.
MSCI ESG Rating (none found)
UN Global Compact
SRI
FTSE Russell ESG Rating
Chapter 11 January 2025
Asset Preservation Explorer
Resource allocation
Lifecycle extension
Circular value
Revenue Direction
Value chain
Ecosystem
FY2023: net income USD 23.6 million. The share price doubled. Where do the bars place that year?
Spotlight
Nine Energy
Extractives, Houston, Texas
FY2020 to FY2025
Rev. CAGR+13%
'21
-63%
'22
+1353%
'23
-82%
'24
-58%
'25
-69%
Terminal
-100%
Common stock cancelled for no consideration, 5 March 2026.
MSCI ESG Rating (none found)
UN Global Compact
SRI
FTSE Russell ESG Rating
Chapter 11 February 2026
Asset Preservation Explorer
Resource allocation
Lifecycle extension
Circular value
Revenue Direction
Value chain
Ecosystem
FY2023: adjusted ROIC 8.8%. Adjusted EBITDA USD 73 million. All shareholders wiped out. Where do the bars place that return?

The calibration is versioned and maintained on a fixed revision cycle as the observation base grows. The framework identifies which companies preserve their asset base and which extract it. It shows where the investment decision should begin.

The Company's Starting Position

Where a company stands is a starting point. Every starting position carries levers that can be activated, strengthened, or redirected. The question is which ones, how quickly they can move the company toward the position it wants to reach, and what risks need to be addressed along the way.

A structured view of where the company's capital position stands today, where it is well served, and where structural risks may need attention.

Assess the Capital Position
Situational Assessment

Your company through a different lens

How the company ticks, what it has built, and which levers could move it to its next chapter. 22 questions. 15 minutes.

Take the Assessment

If you want to explore what the profile means in practice, schedule a conversation.

In Practice

Which assets compound.

We measured several dozen companies on how their assets preserve and enable future earnings. Here are fifteen. The contrasts tell the story. Screening through them shows where risk may be building.

Which assets compound.
15 companies. The bars show the answer.
15 companies across 9 sectors
Key takeaways
  1. Strong returns and a preserved asset base rarely come together.
  2. ESG ratings and the asset base often point in different directions.
  3. The revenue model shows where the asset base compounds.
A selection of companies measured
An extract. The framework also screens complete fund and index portfolios.
Consumer Goods, Manufacturing, Extractives, Construction, Food Systems, Transport & Logistics, Technology, Financial Services, Defence & Aerospace, Agriculture, Chemicals.
What does this show for our company? What does this show for our portfolio?
Perspectives

From the Pull or Push newsletter series

Where capital allocation meets governance design.

It’s Called Fiduciary Duty

Read →

Who Holds the Pen?

Read →

China vs. Europe: Who Builds the Architecture?

Explore →

Capital Flows Like Water

Read →

The Ice Tank in Kupferzell

Read →

Next edition

Coming soon
About

Catherine Schoendorff

Capital Stewardship | CEO and Board Advisor

Former CEO of Mercer Switzerland. Former CTO across multiple regulated industries. Three decades of restructuring, turnaround, and building revenue in professional services and asset-heavy sectors.

Today: advising CEOs and board chairs whose capital allocation decisions determine whether their companies lead the next industrial cycle or exit it. Teaching restructuring and digital transformation at executive level through WAR/IHK Cologne. Active research on how CEOs navigate structural change at the normative-strategic level.

LinkedIn thought leadership on capital stewardship and governance with 800+ subscribers.

Catherine Schoendorff
“Catherine demonstrated impressive capabilities of strategic visioning with down-to-earth effective execution with highly engaged people.”
Thierry de Beyssac
Partner, Axialent | Former CEO, Aon Europe Cluster
“She understands that motivation and appreciation are equally important to get people to do their best, and to do it with passion.”
Stefan Hepp
Entrepreneur & Global Private Markets Leader
“Catherine Schoendorff is the superwoman you need to transform your business in depth.”
Friedrich Tanner
Former CFO, Swiss Papermill Industry

Our Expertise

I have the pleasure of working alongside professionals with direct operational experience at C-level and equivalent positions across pension funds, governance, institutional capital markets, analytical methodology, legal, and operations. This expertise spans South Africa, the Western EU, and Switzerland. Gender balance, a wide range of professional backgrounds, and generational diversity are defining characteristics, by design.

How We Work

Our three-step approach

1

Where does the journey start

A first conversation about where you are, what is important to you, and what you want to achieve, once you have seen your starting position.

2

Starting Position Analysis

You share your financials, and we produce a grounded analysis of where you are. Together we agree upon your strategic profile and the options that strengthen your position, so you enter the next step from a stronger starting position.

3

Advisory Partnership

We go deeper into what can be done and what you want to do, tied back to your strategic profile and the options we agreed upon. We prepare the options for you and your board to decide upon, then work alongside your leadership team to execute.