Six executives driving the reinsurance industry in the Middle East and Africa: Rainer Lehner, Christian Vogel, Frank ONeill, Atish Suri, Farid Chedid, Christian Kraut,
Rainer Lehner
Position: Senior executive officer, Dubai branch, Asia Capital Reinsurance Group (ACR)
Biography: Rainer Lehner is responsible for developing Singapore-based ACRs business in the Middle East. He has 15 years of insurance and reinsurance experience in Asia and Europe, managing and leading portfolios including risk management, business development, brokerage and underwriting. Lehner began his career with Swiss Reinsurance Company (Swiss Re), where he focused on underwriting property treaty business before moving on to upstream energy business in Asia and the Middle East. He subsequently moved into brokering at the UKs JLT Risk Solutions, where he led the energy and industrial risk team and was responsible for the offshore energy business, particularly focusing on the hydrocarbons and mining industries. Before joining the insurance industry, Lehner worked for nine years in the oil and gas industry as a geologist and geophysicist.
Contact Tel: (+971) 4 424 8500
Christian Vogel
Position: Chief executive officer (CEO), Gulf Re
Biography: Christian Vogel was appointed CEO of Dubai-based Gulf Re on 1 December 2013, after serving as the companys chief underwriting officer since 2010. As CEO, he oversees business across the GCC, as well as the broader Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, including Iraq, Jordan and Turkey, Sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia. Vogel has more than 20 years of reinsurance experience, mainly in engineering, property and casualty in several underwriting and managerial positions, as well as working as a pricing actuary. He was involved in various strategic projects for Switzerlands Winterthur Re and Bermuda-based Partner Re, including designing and implementing their reinsurance and management information systems. Vogel was also head of the underwriting office for Partner Res non-US operations, looking after retrocession placements, exposure control and underwriting guidelines and processes.
Contact Tel: (+971) 4 323 0761
Frank ONeill
Position: Managing director, Africa and the Middle East, Swiss Re
Biography: Frank ONeill is responsible for Swiss Res property and casualty and life business in Africa and the Middle East. He has worked for the company for the past 16 years, spending time in London, Zurich, Singapore and New York, before moving to South Africa in 2013. ONeill is also the CEO of Swiss Re Africa and a member of Swiss Res management team for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Until recently, he was responsible for managing global partnerships with Swiss Res largest life insurance clients. Previously, ONeill worked for Liberty Life in Johannesburg, a company he joined upon completing his military service, during which he was employed as a driver for South Africas defence minister. He has a degree in business administration and corporate finance from Henley Business School in the UK.
Contact Tel: (+971) 4 387 9600
Atish Suri
Position: Divisional director, Willis Re
Biography: Atish Suri has worked for the UKs Willis Re for more than seven years and has been working in the treaty market for more than a decade. After spending time in Willis Res facultative department, he joined the Mena treaty team, where he focused initially on producing and placing business in the GCC. Suri led the establishment of Willis Res Dubai operation at the beginning of 2011. He was promoted to team head that year and now oversees the entire Mena region portfolio, which is made up of a diverse client base of insurers and reinsurers of varying sizes. Before joining Willis Re, Suri worked with brokers in London, including BMS International and JB Boda. He is a graduate of the University of Mumbai in India, where he majored in accounting and economics. Suri also has a masters degree in accounting, finance and management from the University of Bradford in the UK.
Contact Tel: (+971) 4 429 4780
Farid Chedid
Position: Founder, chairman and CEO, Chedid Capital
Biography: Farid Chedid is the founder, chairman and CEO of the Lebanon-based Chedid Capital group of companies. He is also a member of the advisory board of EuroMena II Private Equity Fund. Chedid has led the growth of Chedid Capital as a regional insurance and reinsurance group, and has set up firms in Cyprus, Lebanon, the UAE, Greece, Saudi Arabia, the UK and Qatar. In 1998, he established Chedid Re, which now ranks among the top five reinsurance firms in the Mena region and operates in more than 22 countries. Chedid is currently leading SEIB Insurance Company as it focuses on becoming a major insurance company in Qatar, specialising in corporate and complex risks. He is a fellow of the UKs Chartered Insurance Institute and has masters degrees in management and finance, a bachelors degree in economics, and a postgraduate diploma in maritime law.
Contact Tel: (+961) 5 956 080
Christian Kraut
Position: CEO, Middle East and Africa, Munich Re
Biography: Christian Kraut is CEO for the Middle East and Africa region in Munich Res Germany, Asia-Pacific and Africa division. He has more than 20 years of experience in the reinsurance industry and is responsible for overseeing the development of products, solutions and services to support the companys clients. Munich Res services range from traditional reinsurance, comprehensive services and consulting to complex risk solutions across the value chain of the insurance industry in life and non-life business. Kraut began his career at Munich Re in 1989 as a marketing specialist in the Middle East, Far East and Australia division. He also worked as client executive and senior executive in Munich Res Mena department. Kraut represents Munich Re on the boards of directors of Saudi National Insurance Company and Jordan Insurance Company.
Contact Tel: (+971) 4 371 1000
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