SCOR entrusts new responsibilities to Paolo De Martin and Frieder Knüpling in order to continue its development as part of the Optimal Dynamics plan
Press Release
17 January 2014
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SCOR entrusts new responsibilities to
Paolo De Martin and Frieder Knüpling in order to continue its development as
part of the
Optimal Dynamics plan
In the context of SCOR's preparations for its development over the next few
years, and as part of the implementation of the Optimal Dynamics plan, SCOR is
changing the responsibilities within its Executive Committee by mobilising its
global talent pool, with the dual purpose of ensuring renewal and continuity.
Paolo De Martin becomes CEO of SCOR Global Life and re-joins the Group Executive
Committee after a 6-month sabbatical. As Chief Financial Officer of SCOR, a
position he held until May 2013, Paolo played a leading role in the successful
acquisitions of Transamerica Re and Generali USA, which have made the Group the
market leader in US life reinsurance.
Having successfully run SCOR Global Life since February 2008, Gilles Meyer has
decided to step down from his responsibilities as CEO and focus his attention on
the promotion and marketing of SCOR Global Life. He becomes deputy CEO of SCOR
Global Life and remains a member of the Executive Committee.
Frieder Knüpling has been promoted to Chief Risk Officer of SCOR. He succeeds
Philippe Trainar, who becomes Chief Economist and Senior Global Advisor to the
Chairman. Frieder Knüpling remains a member of the Executive Committee.
As Deputy Chief Risk Officer since 1 October 2012, Frieder Knüpling has directly
contributed alongside the CRO to the reinforcement of the Group's risk
management framework, which has notably led Standard & Poor's to rate SCOR's
enterprise risk management (ERM) as "very strong". With Philippe Trainar, he has
also enabled SCOR to actively prepare for the transition to the new Solvency II
prudential framework, which is due to come into force on 1 January 2016.
These appointments are effective immediately.
Denis Kessler, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of SCOR, comments: "The
decision has been made to progressively put into place a team that will ensure
SCOR's development over the next few years and implement the Optimal Dynamics
plan. I would like to thank Gilles Meyer, under whose leadership SCOR Global
Life, which now books around EUR 6 billion in gross written premiums, has made a
significant contribution to the Group's results and experienced a period of
remarkable growth. Paolo De Martin, who has been an excellent Group CFO, becomes
CEO of SCOR Global Life for the new phase that is now beginning. He will be able
to count on the support of Gilles, who becomes his deputy. As for Philippe
Trainar, he has prepared the Group for the transition to Solvency II and has
elevated our expertise in terms of risk management to the highest level. Frieder
Knüpling, who was formerly his deputy and already a member of the Executive
Committee, becomes Chief Risk Officer. Philippe becomes Chief Economist and
Senior Global Advisor to the Chairman. Gilles, Paolo, Philippe and Frieder have
all proved themselves and demonstrated their ability to successfully assume
responsibilities at the highest level. This generational renewal through
internal promotion - which began in May 2013 with the appointment of Mark
Kociancic to the post of Chief Financial Officer - demonstrates the depth and
the global nature of the pool of talent at SCOR's disposal. I would like to
extend my warmest thanks to the entire SCOR executive management team, which
also includes Victor Peignet, Benjamin Gentsch and François de Varenne, for the
work they have accomplished and for their unreserved commitment to achieving,
together, the profitability and solvency objectives that we have set ourselves."
*
*Â Â Â *
Paolo De Martin (44), an Italian citizen, graduated from Ca' Foscari University,
Italy, with a degree in Business Economics. He subsequently spent two years in
the optical business as founder and managing partner of an eyewear manufacturer.
He joined General Electric Company (GE) in 1995 as a finance trainee in London.
In 1997, he joined GE's internal auditing & consulting Group, charged with
assignments in multiple GE businesses in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
In 2001, Paolo De Martin was promoted to Executive Manager for GE Capital
Europe, before joining GE Insurance Solutions as Financial Planning and Analysis
Manager for Global Property and Casualty Reinsurance. In 2003, he was appointed
Chief Financial Officer of GE Frankona Group before becoming Chief Financial
Officer of Converium Holding AG in July 2006. In September 2007, Paolo De Martin
was appointed Group Chief Financial Officer of SCOR SE.
In May 2013, Paolo De Martin decided to take a period of sabbatical leave,
before re-joining the SCOR group management team in January 2014.
Frieder Knüpling (44), a German citizen, holds degrees in Mathematics and
Physics from the Universities of Göttingen and Freiburg. He worked as a lecturer
and research assistant at Freiburg University and several other colleges, until
he received a PhD in Economics based on research on econometric modelling of
macroeconomic and financial data. From 1999 to 2002 he worked for Gerling-
Konzern Globale Rückversicherungs-AG and its U.K. subsidiary, dealing with
pricing and valuation.
From 2003, he headed the Corporate Actuarial & Treasury department of the Revios
group. Since 2007 Frieder Knüpling has headed SCOR's Corporate Actuarial
Department, reporting to the Chief Risk Officer. He was appointed Deputy Chief
Risk Officer of SCOR in December 2008 and member of the executive board
(Vorstand) of SCOR Rückversicherung (Deutschland) AG in May 2009. In July 2010,
he was appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer of SCOR Global Life SEand member
of the Group Executive Committee. In October 2012, he was promoted to Deputy
Group Chief Risk Officer, reporting to Philippe Trainar, Group Chief Risk
Officer. He is a fellow of the German Actuarial Society (DAV) and a Chartered
Enterprise Risk Analyst (CERA).
Gilles Meyer (56), a dual French and Swiss citizen, holds a degree from a French
business school and an MBA from GSBA in Zürich. Gilles Meyer started his career
as an underwriter at Swiss Re before managing the facultative department of La
Baloise in Basel. After 23 years of experience in facultative and treaty
reinsurance, Gilles Meyer was Chief Executive Officer of Alea Europe from 1999
to 2006, where he was in charge of property & casualty reinsurance and life
reinsurance, and was Manager of group underwriting from 2005 to 2006. He joined
the SCOR group in January 2006 and has managed the German-speaking markets of
SCOR Global P&C based in Hanover, Basel, and Winterthur. He was named head of
Business Unit 1 of SCOR Global Life and a member of the Group Executive
Committee in November 2006, then Deputy Chief Executive Officer of SCOR Global
Life SE in September 2007. In February 2008, he was appointed Chief Executive
Officer of SCOR Global Life SE.
Philippe Trainar (60), a French citizen, is a former student of the Ecole
Nationale d'Administration and has a BA in Economics.
He held various positions in the French civil service from 1981 to 1999, notably
as financial attaché to the French embassy in Germany (1985-1987), adviser in
the Prime Minister's cabinet (1993-1995) and deputy-director in charge of
international economic issues at the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance.
He was also in charge of macroeconomic modelling at the Ministry of the Economy
and Finance. In 2000, he joined the Fédération française des sociétés
d'assurances (FFSA) as director of economic, financial and international
affairs. In February 2006, he was appointed Chief Economist of SCOR. On 1 April
2010, he was appointed Group Chief Risk Officer.
Philippe Trainar chairs the Commission d'analyse et de gestion des risques of
the FFSA. He is a member of the governmental consulting and expertise committees
the Comité Scientifique de l'Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel and the Commission
économique de la nation. Philippe Trainar has also written many scientific works
on risk, insurance and solvency as well as on the economy, which have been
published in scientific journals such as the Journal of Risk and Insurance, the
Geneva Papers, Economie & Statistique and in the magazine Risques.
*
*Â Â Â *
Forward-looking statements
SCOR does not communicate "profit forecasts" in the sense of Article 2 of (EC)
Regulation n°809/2004 of the European Commission. Thus, any forward-.looking
statements contained in this communication should not be held as corresponding
to such profit forecasts. Information in this communication may include
"forward-looking statements", including but not limited to statements that are
predictions of or indicate future events, trends, plans or objectives, based on
certain assumptions and include any statement which does not directly relate to
a historical fact or current fact. Forward-looking statements are typically
identified by words or phrases such as, without limitation, "anticipate",
"assume", "believe", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "foresee", "intend", "may
increase" and "may fluctuate" and similar expressions or by future or
conditional verbs such as, without limitations, "will", "should", "would" and
"could." Undue reliance should not be placed on such statements, because, by
their nature, they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors, which may cause actual results, on the one hand, to differ from
any results expressed or implied by the present communication, on the other
hand.
Please refer to SCOR's Document de référence filed with the AMF on 6 March 2013
under number D.13-0106 (the "Document de référence"), for a description of
certain important factors, risks and uncertainties that may affect the business
of the SCOR Group. As a result of the extreme and unprecedented volatility and
disruption of the current global financial crisis, SCOR is exposed to
significant financial, capital market and other risks, including movements in
interest rates, credit spreads, equity prices, and currency movements, changes
in rating agency policies or practices, and the lowering or loss of financial
strength or other ratings.
The Group's financial information is prepared on the basis of IFRS and
interpretations issued and approved by the European Union. This financial
information does not constitute a set of financial statements for an interim
period as defined by IAS 34 "Interim Financial Reporting".
SCOR Press Release:
http://hugin.info/143549/R/1755524/592761.pdf
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