Helvetia appoints Bernhard Kaufmann as Group Chief Risk Officer

Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR
St.Gallen, 15 August 2024

Bernhard Kaufmann becomes Group Chief Risk Officer and a member of the Group Executive Board of Helvetia Insurance. He has extensive international leadership experience in risk management and will take up his new role at Helvetia at the start of November.

In mid-May 2024, Helvetia announced that Group Risk Management will become part of the Group Executive Management as a new Group function. Bernhard Kaufmann has now been appointed as head of this new Group function. He will assume his position as Group Chief Risk Officer and take up his new position as a member of the Helvetia Group Executive Board at the start of November. Bernhard Kaufmann has long-standing executive experience in international risk management. He has been Chief Risk Officer and a member of the Management Board of the Dutch NN Group since 2020. He previously held various roles at Munich Re Group, most recently as Group Chief Risk Officer. Bernhard Kaufmann is a German citizen and completed his PhD in theoretical physics at the Technical University of Munich.

"With Bernhard Kaufmann, Helvetia gains a proven risk management expert and an executive with extensive international experience. I'm delighted that he's coming on board to strengthen our team," says Fabian Rupprecht, Group CEO of Helvetia. He adds: "The integration of Group Risk Management as an independent part of the Group Executive Board will allow us to further improve our governance and ensure that Helvetia is a reliable partner for its customers, employees and investors, even in times of constant change." Helvetia's Executive Management's new Group Risk Management function assesses all risks, including strategic, financial and operational risks and those associated with large Group projects and market units, in order to mitigate them jointly with the affected units. This Group function also governs all ESG activities and consolidates key control tasks at the Executive Management level.

With the appointment of Bernhard Kaufmann as Group Chief Risk Officer, the realigned Group Executive Board is now complete. "The adjusted Group structure and new members of the Executive Management will strengthen Helvetia's international dimension. At the same time, we're moving forwards with respect to diversity in a number of ways," says Fabian Rupprecht.

About the Helvetia Group
Helvetia Group, with its headquarters in St. Gallen, has grown since 1858 to become a successful insurance group with over 13,800 employees and more than 7.2 million customers. It has been enabling its customers to seize opportunities and minimise risks for all that time – Helvetia is there for them when it matters. Helvetia is the best partner and is present everywhere that protection needs arise, with insurance, pension and investment solutions from a single source as well as simple products and processes. The insurance group knows the business, from mobile phone insurance and insurance cover for the Gotthard Base Tunnel to the long-term investment of customer assets. Helvetia develops and opens up new business models with enthusiasm and drives forward its own business in a powerful and future-oriented manner. It acts with foresight and responsibility in everything it does: for the benefit of its shareholders, customers and employees as well as its partners, society and the environment. 
Helvetia is the leading all-lines insurer in Switzerland. With Helvetia Seguros and Caser, the Spain segment is the second pillar of the Group. With the GIAM (German, Italian and Austrian Markets) segment, the company has firmly established market positions in European countries for above-average growth. In the Specialty Markets segment, Helvetia offers tailored special insurance and reinsurance cover worldwide. With a business volume of CHF 11.3 billion, Helvetia generated underlying earnings of CHF 372.5 million and an IFRS net income of CHF 301.3 million in the 2023 financial year. The shares of Helvetia Holding AG are traded on SIX Swiss Exchange.

Cautionary note
This document was prepared by Helvetia Group and may not be copied, altered, offered, sold or otherwise distributed to any other person by any recipient without the consent of Helvetia Group. The German version of this document is decisive and binding. Versions of the document in other languages are made available purely for information purposes. Although all reasonable effort has been made to ensure that the facts stated herein are correct and the opinions contained herein are fair and reasonable, where any information and statistics are quoted from any external source such information or statistics should not be interpreted as having been adopted or endorsed as accurate by Helvetia Group. Neither Helvetia Group nor any of its directors, officers, employees and advisors nor any other person shall have any liability whatsoever for loss howsoever arising, directly or indirectly, from any use of this information. The facts and information contained in this document are as up to date as is reasonably possible but may be subject to revision in the future. Neither Helvetia Group nor any of its directors, officers, employees or advisors nor any other person makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this document.
This document may contain projections or other forward-looking statements related to Helvetia Group which by their very nature involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and there is a risk that predictions, forecasts, projections and other outcomes described or implied in forward-looking statements will not be achieved. We caution you that a number of important factors could cause results to differ materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors include: (1) changes in general economic conditions, in particular in the markets in which we operate; (2) the performance of financial markets; (3) changes in interest rates; (4) changes in currency exchange rates; (5) changes in laws and regulations, including accounting policies or practices; (6) risks associated with implementing our business strategies; (7) the frequency, magnitude and general development of insured events; (8) mortality and morbidity rates; (9) policy renewal and lapse rates as well as (10), the realisation of economies of scale as well as synergies. We caution you that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive; when evaluating forward-looking statements, you should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to Helvetia Group on the date of its publication and Helvetia Group assumes no obligation to update such statements unless otherwise required by applicable law.