Gert De Winter was never a spectacular or boastful master of announcements, as so many in the financial industry tend to be. Rather, he was a grounded, sensitive, and deeply thoughtful leader.

Although not Swiss, he nevertheless managed to immerse himself deeply in our mentality – without pandering, but with great expertise and empathy.

Culture Above All

What set him apart as a CEO was his focus on culture – especially corporate culture, and with it, a working atmosphere that allowed creativity and personal growth.

That means something in an industry like insurance, which by its very nature is not particularly exciting and is ultimately subject to shareholder thinking.

Yet De Winter managed to present insurance as a central element of our existence – highlighting in particular the urgency and decisive advantage in life of being well insured.

I believe the employees of Baloise felt very much at ease under his leadership.

Approachable Until the End

This human, ultimately social sense of duty with which he carried out all his roles distinguished him from every other CEO who either merely chases the share price or is focused only on personal gain.

De Winter was always an approachable person and manager, who, thanks to his earlier experience as a management consultant, kept a healthy distance from the day-to-day business. He remained accessible. And that made him so credible – and likeable.

Rare Good News

All the more shocking, then, was the news that he had been diagnosed with cancer. That he nevertheless managed to recover and return to lead the company was one of those rare and all the more welcome pieces of news in this business I have followed for so long.

When he eventually stepped down as CEO and spoke enthusiastically about studying history in his closer homeland of Antwerp – to expand his universe once again – it was clear that here was someone doing exactly the right thing for himself. One couldn’t help but be happy for him.

Role Model for the Financial Industry

That cancer has now ultimately taken him back is all the more tragic and sad. The world has lost in him a great and exemplary human being – of whom there are far too few, especially in the financial world.