Credit Suisse’s reinsurer Bernina Re Ltd. appoints Christian Bieri CEO

Bernina Re Ltd., the flagship reinsurance platform of the Credit Suisse Insurance Linked Strategies Ltd. team, has a new CEO in former Swiss Re and MS Amlin executive Christian Bieri, who joins the company soon bringing almost 20 years of underwriting and leadership experience.

Bernina Re Ltd. is a Bermuda located Class 3A reinsurance company that was set up in 2018 as a vehicle to underwrite business on behalf of the Credit Suisse ILS strategies and funds.

At its launch, Bernina Re was already managing more than $2 billion in trading volume for the Credit Suisse ILS investment management team, demonstrating the key position in the ILS operation that this reinsurance vehicle holds.

The previous CEO of Bernina Re Michael McKnight, who had been with the reinsurer since its launch, departed in late 2018 leaving a gap that needed to be filled.

Now, the Board of Directors of Bernina Re Ltd. has appointed Christian Bieri to the role of Chief Executive Officer of the reinsurer, Credit Suisse ILS confirmed.

Bieri began his career with McKinsey & Company in the late 1990’s, before moving to reinsurance firm Swiss Re in 2001 where he worked his way up to a Managing Director of Underwriting role covering property and casualty treaty reinsurance.

In 2010 Bieri moved to Amlin, becoming Chief Underwriting Officer for Europe and more recently the Head of Reinsurance, EMEA for MS Amlin Group.

He has since spent some time in advisory roles before taking the position with Bernina Re Ltd.

Bieri will take up the role at Bernina Re once full Bermuda regulatory approvals have been received.

Bernina Re is a fully Solvency II compliant reinsurance company, which the Credit Suisse ILS team utilises to more efficiently underwrite reinsurance contracts in regions that are Solvency II compliant, such as Switzerland, EU countries and Japan.