Reinsurance giant Swiss Re opens KL office

SINGAPORE: Swiss Re Corporate Solutions’ new office in Kuala Lumpur started operations on March 1.

It will function under a Labuan Financial Services Authority’s reinsurance licence and will focus on servicing large- and upper mid-sized Malaysian businesses through broking partners and intermediaries.

In a statement on Tuesday, its Asia-Pacific chief executive officer, Fred Kleiterp, said Malaysia was a key focus for the company and having a local presence would enable Swiss Re to more closely collaborate with the market.

“We will use our large net capacity, and the financial strength of the Swiss Re Group to provide traditional and customised reinsurance solutions to corporations across several industries, including oil and gas, manufacturing, agriculture, marine, aviation and construction,” said Kleiterp.

The team in Kuala Lumpur will be led by Juerg Stoll, a seasoned Swiss Re leader, who has over 30 years of industry experience, more recently as country head (Japan) at Swiss Re. 

He will report to Jonathan Rake, head (South-East Asia) at Swiss Re.

Rake said Swiss Re’s South-East Asia team would continue to strengthen its local market position. 

“Juerg’s industry experience and track record of establishing operations and launching new products make him the ideal partner to deliver on our ambitious plans. 

“I’m looking forward to building our team in Malaysia further from the local insurance talent and providing clients and brokers with our world-class solutions and services locally,” he said.

Meanwhile, Stoll said, he was enthused about building a long-lasting presence in Malaysia and supporting the country’s economic growth ambitions with reliable contingent capital. 

“I’m also excited to have the chance to further strengthen our unique brand in Malaysia,” Stoll said.

Swiss Re serves clients and brokers in Asia-Pacific from 11 offices in six countries -- Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore.

The company offers innovative, high-quality insurance capacity to mid-sized and large multinational corporations across the globe. 

Its offerings range from standard risk transfer covers and multi-line programmes, to highly customised solutions tailored to the needs of its clients.

Swiss Re serves customers from over 50 offices worldwide and is backed by the financial strength of the Swiss Re Group. - Bernama