Swiss Re announced that Bernhard Kaufmann will succeed Patrick Raaflaub as Group Chief Risk Officer as of 1 October 2025.
Bernhard Kaufmann has held Chief Risk Officer positions in the re/insurance industry for the past 17 years.
He will join Swiss Re on 1 October from Helvetia, where he is currently the Group Chief Risk Officer.
Prior to this role, Bernhard Kaufmann was Group Chief Risk Officer at Helvetia Insurance, Group Chief Risk Officer at NN Group and held various senior leadership roles at Munich Re Group, most recently as Group Chief Risk Officer. He completed his PhD in theoretical physics at the Technical University of Munich.
Chairman (2017) and vice-Chairman (2016) of the CRO Forum. The CRO Forum is a group of professional risk managers from the insurance industry that focuses on developing and promoting industry best practices in risk management.
The Forum consists of Chief Risk Officers from large multi-national insurance companies. It aims to represent the members’ views on key risk management topics, including emerging risks.
Swiss Re’s Chairman, Jacques de Vaucleroy, said: “We are delighted to have found a seasoned leader in Bernhard Kaufmann”.
With his deep expertise in risk management in the re/insurance industry, he is well equipped to navigate Swiss Re through the increasingly complex risk and regulatory landscape.
Jacques de Vaucleroy, Swiss Re’s Chairman
“I would also like to thank Patrick Raaflaub on behalf of the entire Board of Directors for his great contributions at Swiss Re over the past years and wish him all the very best for the future.”
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 70 offices globally.
