UBS group chief executive Sergio Ermotti, who will be replaced by Ralph Hamers in November, is taking over the chairmanship at Swiss Re next year.
In an announcement this morning, the reinsurance giant said Ermotti will first join the board as a non-executive and independent member next month before succeeding Walter Kielholz as chair in 2021. Kielholz, who has held the post since 2009, described his successor as an accomplished financial industry leader.
Group CEO of UBS since 2011, Ermotti is a Swiss-certified banking expert whose credentials include years spent at UniCredit and Merrill Lynch. He is a graduate of the Advanced Management Programme at the University of Oxford in the UK.
“Sergio Ermotti’s wealth of experience and an impressive leadership track record will be important assets for Swiss Re,” commented Kielholz. “His appointment will ensure a smooth leadership transition when I retire after the AGM (annual general meeting) in 2021, and I look forward to working closely with him until then.”
The incoming chairman, meanwhile, called Swiss Re “a truly inspirational financial institution” that is centred around knowledge and risk expertise.
Ermotti stated: “I look forward to working together with the board and the management team to take the company into the next successful chapter of its history. I am honoured to be following in the footsteps of Walter Kielholz, who over the past decades immensely furthered the development not only of Swiss Re, but the entire Swiss financial center.”
Kielholz joined Swiss Re in 1989.
