Swiss Re reveals successor as group chief economist departs

Swiss Re's current group chief economist Kurt Karl is retiring at the end of December 2017 after six years in the role and 17 years with the company.

As of Jan.1, 2018, Jerome Jean Haegeli will assume the position of group chief economist at the Swiss Re Institute. In his new role, Haegeli will be responsible for guiding the company's economic research, associated forecasts and consulting, as well as driving Swiss Re's thought leadership in strengthening long-term investing and financial resilience.

Haegeli is currently Swiss Re's head of investment strategy at group asset management. He started his career at Swiss Re in 2008, and prior to joining the company, held senior roles at Bank Julius Baer, the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) executive board, the Swiss National Bank and UBS Warburg.

Haegeli is a member of a number of committees at the World Economic Forum, the Institute of International Finance and the European Financial Services Roundtable, with a special focus on long-term investment, infrastructure and financial resilience topics. Furthermore, he represents Swiss Re at various industry roundtables, advising governments and policymakers on key long-term investment themes.

Haegeli will report to Jeffrey Bohn, director of the Swiss Re Institute.

"We are excited to have Jerome joining the Swiss Re Institute as group chief economist," Bohn said. "He brings with him deep experience and expertise in financial markets, international economics and central bank policy. This background makes him well qualified to steer our macro-economic research agenda."

"He can build on the success and strong reputation of our economic research and consulting work. For these achievements, we would like to thank Kurt Karl – especially for his commitment and leadership as group chief economist over the past six years."

Karl joined in 2000 as chief economist of the Americas, based in New York City. Since 2011, he has been Swiss Re's group chief economist and head of economic research & consulting.

Bohn added: "All our research plays a pivotal role in providing our clients with a differentiated service offering with the goal to support them in making informed decisions on how to steer their business in a fast changing insurance market environment."

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