Hannover Re Chief Executive Officer Ulrich Wallin plans to retire in 2019, after the company’s annual general meeting scheduled for May 8.
Wallin’s replacement will be Jean-Jacques Henchoz, a 53-year-old Swiss Re executive who will join Hannover Re’s executive board on April 1, 2019.
“We are profoundly grateful to Ulrich Wallin for his tremendous entrepreneurial achievements,” said Herbert K. Haas, chairman of the supervisory board of Hannover Rück SE. “Under his expert and prudent direction, Hannover Re has significantly expanded its market position as a leading reinsurer and further enhanced its diversification and sustained profitability.”
He added that Jean-Jacques Henchoz is “a very seasoned reinsurance manager who will continue to drive the company’s successful development.”
In a statement, Hannover Re said Wallin can look back on an extremely successful career spanning 35 years with Hannover Re. In 2001, he was appointed to the executive board, becoming chief executive officer in 2009.
Since 2011, Henchoz has been in charge of Swiss Re’s Europe, Middle East and Africa region, overseeing the reinsurer’s regional life and non-life business. In January 2012, he was appointed as a member of the executive committee of the Swiss Re Group. He had previously served with Swiss Re in a number of different positions since 1998 and as CEO of the subsidiary Swiss Re Canada from 2005 to 2010.
Under Wallin’s leadership, Hannover Re has grown its gross written premium from roughly $11.9 billion to around $20.5 billion and boosted its group net income from $807.5 million to approximately $1.2 billion, according to the company. Hannover Re’s share price has more than quadrupled from $31.2 to $132.7.
Source: Hannover Re
*A version of this story ran previously in our sister publication Insurance Journal.