Russell Higginbotham to become new Swiss Re CEO Reinsurance Asia and Regional President; Jayne Plunkett has decided to leave Swiss Re

Swiss Re announces today that Russell Higginbotham has been appointed CEO Reinsurance Asia and Regional President, effective 8 July 2019 and subject to necessary regulatory approvals. He is succeeding Jayne Plunkett, who has decided to pursue career opportunities outside Swiss Re.

Russell Higginbotham is an experienced leader who has been with Swiss Re for close to 25 years in various roles and has deep familiarity with Asia Pacific. Before his current role as CEO Reinsurance EMEA and Regional President, he led Swiss Re's global Life & Health (L&H) Products Division. Prior to that, he served as CEO of Swiss Re UK & Ireland, CEO of Swiss Re Australia and New Zealand and led the company's L&H businesses in Japan and Korea.

Walter B. Kielholz, Swiss Re Chairman, says: "Considering Russell Higginbotham's experience across Asia and a very strong track record in the industry, we are confident that he is the ideal candidate to succeed Jayne Plunkett in leading our Asia business."

Swiss Re is pleased that the appointment of a strong internal candidate ensures continuity for its clients. A successor to Russell Higginbotham as CEO Reinsurance EMEA and Regional President will be announced in due course.

Walter B. Kielholz continues: "On behalf of the Swiss Re Board of Directors, I would like to personally thank Jayne Plunkett for her contribution, engagement and dedication to Swiss Re for close to 20 years. Under her leadership, our Asia business continued to grow at a steady pace, and we've increased our focus on China. During her tenure at Swiss Re Jayne has had a successful career, during which she held various leadership roles with increasing responsibility. Prior to her current role she served as global Head Casualty Reinsurance and Head of Casualty Underwriting for Asia, where she focused on growing and developing our business in response to technological changes."

Swiss Re

The Swiss Re Group is one of the world’s leading providers of reinsurance, insurance and other forms of insurance-based risk transfer, working to make the world more resilient. It anticipates and manages risk – from natural catastrophes to climate change, from ageing populations to cyber crime. The aim of the Swiss Re Group is to enable society to thrive and progress, creating new opportunities and solutions for its clients. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, where it was founded in 1863, the Swiss Re Group operates through a network of around 80 offices globally. It is organised into three Business Units, each with a distinct strategy and set of objectives contributing to the Group’s overall mission.

Cautionary note on forward-looking statements

Certain statements and illustrations contained herein are forward-looking. These statements (including as to plans, objectives, targets, and trends) and illustrations provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to a historical fact or current fact.

Forward-looking statements typically are identified by words or phrases such as “anticipate”, “assume”, “believe”, “continue”, “estimate”, “expect”, “foresee”, “intend”, “may increase”, “may fluctuate” and similar expressions, or by future or conditional verbs such as “will”, “should”, “would” and “could”. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the Group’s actual results of operations, financial condition, solvency ratios, capital or liquidity positions or prospects to be materially different from any future results of operations, financial condition, solvency ratios, capital or liquidity positions or prospects expressed or implied by such statements or cause Swiss Re to not achieve its published targets. Such factors include, among others:

  • the frequency, severity and development of insured claim events, particularly natural catastrophes, man-made disasters, pandemics, acts of terrorism and acts of war;
  • mortality, morbidity and longevity experience;
  • the cyclicality of the insurance and reinsurance sectors;
  • instability affecting the global financial system;
  • deterioration in global economic conditions;
  • the effect of market conditions, including the global equity and credit markets, and the level and volatility of equity prices, interest rates, credit spreads, currency values and other market indices, on the Group’s investment assets;
  • changes in the Group’s investment result as a result of changes in the Group’s investment policy or the changed composition of the Group’s investment assets, and the impact of the timing of any such changes relative to changes in market conditions;
  • the Group’s ability to maintain sufficient liquidity and access to capital markets, including sufficient liquidity to cover potential recapture of reinsurance agreements, early calls of debt or debt-like arrangements and collateral calls due to actual or perceived deterioration of the Group’s financial strength or otherwise;
  • any inability to realise amounts on sales of securities on the Group’s balance sheet equivalent to their values recorded for accounting purposes;
  • changes in legislation and regulation, and the interpretations thereof by regulators and courts, affecting us or the Group’s ceding companies, including as a result of shifts away from multilateral approaches to regulation of global operations;
  • the outcome of tax audits, the ability to realise tax loss carryforwards, the ability to realise deferred tax assets (including by reason of the mix of earnings in a jurisdiction or deemed change of control), which could negatively impact future earnings, and the overall impact of changes in tax regimes on business models;
  • failure of the Group’s hedging arrangements to be effective;
  • the lowering or loss of one of the financial strength or other ratings of one or more Swiss Re companies, and developments adversely affecting the Group’s ability to achieve improved ratings;
  • uncertainties in estimating reserves;
  • policy renewal and lapse rates;
  • uncertainties in estimating future claims for purposes of financial reporting, particularly with respect to large natural catastrophes and certain large man-made losses, as significant uncertainties may be involved in estimating losses from such events and preliminary estimates may be subject to change as new information becomes available;
  • extraordinary events affecting the Group’s clients and other counterparties, such as bankruptcies, liquidations and other credit-related events;
  • legal actions or regulatory investigations or actions, including those in respect of industry requirements or business conduct rules of general applicability;
  • changes in accounting standards;
  • significant investments, acquisitions or dispositions, and any delays, unexpected costs, lower-than expected benefits, or other issues experienced in connection with any such transactions;
  • changing levels of competition, including from new entrants into the market; and
  • operational factors, including the efficacy of risk management and other internal procedures in managing the foregoing risks and the ability to manage cybersecurity risks.

These factors are not exhaustive. The Group operates in a continually changing environment and new risks emerge continually. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Swiss Re undertakes no obligation to publicly revise or update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Further Information

Downloads

News Release

Contact: Get in touch with our experts