Swiss Re’s Andreas Berger will become Group CEO from July, taking over from Christian Mumenthaler who is stepping down after eight years in the role and 25 years with the company.

Mr Berger joined Swiss Re in March 2019 as CEO of the Corporate Solutions commercial insurance business. He previously held leadership positions at Boston Consulting Group, Gerling and Allianz. 

“The board unanimously determined that Andreas Berger is the right person to build on the firm's current momentum and lead Swiss Re into the next phase of its development,” Vice Chairman Jacques de Vaucleroy said. 

Mr Berger’s track record includes the turnaround of Corporate Solutions, and he has demonstrated a “strong focus on execution” while innovating with data analytics, Mr de Vaucleroy says. 

During Mr Mumenthaler’s tenure, Swiss Re premiums earned and fee income grew from about $US30 billion ($46 billion) in 2015 to $US45 billion ($69 billion) last year, and capitalisation strengthened substantially. 

“Christian Mumenthaler steered the company through a period with elevated natural catastrophe activity, an unprecedented low interest rate environment and the covid-19 pandemic,” Mr de Vaucleroy said. “With the tailwind of delivering on all 2023 financial targets, a dividend increase and the positive effects of group reorganisation coming through, now is the right moment for CEO succession.” 

Mr Berger – who was born in Kigali, Rwanda, and who is a German citizen – is chairman of the International Insurance Society and a board member of Advance, the Swiss initiative for gender equality in business. 

“Swiss Re has an outstanding global client franchise across reinsurance and Corporate Solutions, underpinned by the incredibly strong Swiss Re brand and capital position,” he said. 

At Allianz, Mr Berger held several senior roles. He joined the Allianz Global Corporate and Specialty board as chief regions and market officer (Central and Eastern Europe, Mediterranean, Africa and Asia) and had group responsibility for global broker distribution. 

Swiss Re says a selection process has begun to find a new CEO for its Corporate Solutions arm.