Sapnar Elected RAA Board Chair

May 5, 2016

Michael Sapnar, president and CEO of Transatlantic Re, was elected chair of the Reinsurance Association of America’s board of directors at the 48th annual meeting on April 28, 2016.

Sapnar is president and CEO of Transatlantic Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries, Transatlantic Reinsurance Company (TransRe) and Fair American Insurance and Reinsurance Company (Fairco).

Kean Driscoll, chief executive officer of Validus Re, the reinsurance arm for the Validus Group. was elected RAA vice chair, and M. Steven Levy, president of the reinsurance division of Munich Reinsurance America, was elected secretary-treasurer.

Michael Sapnar
Michael Sapnar

Sapnar discussed TransRe’s competitive advantage as a standalone reinsurer and industry trends in an extensive interview with Carrier Management last year. See related article,” TransRe: Where Reinsurance Is Job 1.”
Sapnar joined TransRe in 1995 as an assistant vice president in the Special Casualty Unit underwriting D&O, E&O and Medical Malpractice. He transferred to London in June 1996 and served as underwriting manager for the London branch from July 1998 to February 2002.

In 2002, he returned to the U.S. to become CUO of North America.He was appointed president and CEO in 2012.

Before joining TransRe, he worked for eight years at Continental Insurance, handling D&O, E&O and fidelity business.

Sapnar is also chair of the RAA’s Council of Reinsurers and Brokers, and Robert Hatcher, Executive Vice President, Willis Re, was elected co-chair of the Council of Reinsurers and Brokers.

Driscoll was a founding member of Validus, where he previously served as chief underwriting officer. He has 20 years of experience as a reinsurance underwriter, including previous stints at Quanta Re, and Zurich Re N.A. (Converium).

M. Steven Levy
M. Steven Levy

Levy assumed his current positon at Munich Reinsurance America in 2014 and previously served as Munich Reinsurance America’s chief financial officer and senior vice president since 2003. Prior to that, he was president of Munich Reinsurance America’s Credit & Surety Division.

Levy joined Munich Reinsurance America in October 1997 as vice President in the Financial Products area. Prior to joining Munich Reinsurance America, he was senior vice president at Guy Carpenter, and also has prior banking and rating agency experience.

Hatcher is responsible for Willis Re’s branch offices in the U.S. He was appointed to that position in 2007. Before joining Willis in 1994, he was vice president and principal with Towers Perrin. He started his career with Chubb & Son.

About RAA

The Reinsurance Association of America is the leading trade association of property/casualty reinsurers doing business in the United States. RAA membership is diverse, including reinsurance underwriters and intermediaries licensed in the U.S. and those that conduct business on a cross-border basis. The RAA represents its members before state, federal and international bodies.

Source: Reinsurance Association of America


Sapnar and Levy were among executives who answered questions about the reinsurance market in a series of articles published by Carrier Management late last year.