Bernhard Kaufmann will become Group Chief Risk Officer and a member of the Group Executive Board of Helvetia. The insurer announced this on Thursday.

Kaufmann has extensive international leadership experience in risk management and will start at Helvetia in early November.

Switch to Helvetia in November

In mid-May 2024, Helvetia announced that Group Risk Management would become a new division within the Group Executive Board. The leadership of this new division has now been filled with Bernhard Kaufmann, who will join Helvetia as Group Chief Risk Officer and a member of the Group Executive Board at the beginning of November.

Bernhard Kaufmann has many years of leadership experience in risk management in an international environment. Since 2020, he has been Chief Risk Officer and a member of the Group Executive Board of the Dutch NN Group. Prior to that, he held various roles at Munich Re Group, most recently as Group Chief Risk Officer. Bernhard Kaufmann is a German citizen and holds a PhD in theoretical physics from the Technical University of Munich.

Further improving governance

«By integrating risk management as a standalone part of the Group Executive Board, we are further improving our governance and ensuring that Helvetia remains a reliable partner for customers, employees, and investors even in times of constant change,» says Fabian Rupprecht, Group CEO of Helvetia.

The new Group Executive Board division, Group Risk Management, assesses all risks, including strategic, financial, and operational risks, as well as risks in major projects of the group and its market units. This division also oversees all ESG activities and consolidates key control functions at the Group Executive Board level.