Thomas Helbling passes the baton to Urs Arbter, and Sandra Kurmann joins the Managing
Urs Arbter will take over as the CEO of the Swiss Insurance Association (SIA) from 1 January 2022. Previously the Association’s Deputy CEO and Divisional Head of Insurance Strategy and Regulation, Arbter is stepping into the shoes of Thomas Helbling, who is leaving the SIA after five years to take up a partnership at a law firm. Sandra Kurmann is a new face on the Managing Board, and will also be taking up the reins of the brand-new Conditions division.
As announced, Urs Arbter will be replacing Thomas Helbing as SIA's CEO on 1 January 2022. Over the past four years, Urs Arbter has served as its Deputy CEO, acting as the Divisional Head of Insurance Strategy and Regulation. After completing a commercial bank apprenticeship, he was awarded a degree in business administration from the University of St. Gallen. He is also a graduate of the Stanford Executive Program. He has held various roles across the insurance industry since 1998. Going forward, former CEO Thomas Helbling will focus on leading business associations and exercising board of management mandates as he returns to his previous profession of the law.
The SIA will also be tweaking its organisational structure when Urs Arbter takes office as CEO, with the new General Operating Conditions division handling interdisciplinary issues relating to supervision and regulation, as well as education and employment policy. Sandra Kurmann (39) will take up the role of Divisional Head here, along with joining the Managing Board. She started her time at the SIA as a specialist in Actuarial Science and Risk Management and has headed up the Finance and Regulation area since 2020. As an SAV-certified actuary, Sandra Kurmann has a PhD in Actuarial Science from HEC Lausanne and worked as a Consulting Actuary for Milliman Switzerland before joining the SIA. ‘Thanks to her outstanding actuarial and regulatory expertise, and her communication skills, Sandra Kurmann is a wonderful addition to the Board, and brings a breath of youthful fresh air, too’, says Urs Arbter. Urs Arbter will head up the Insurance Industry division until a permanent Head is appointed. This division was formed from the previous Insurance Policy and Regulation division.
Note to editors
The Swiss Insurance Association (SIA) represents the interests of the private insurance industry at the national and international level. The association comprises around 70 primary insurers and reinsurers employing a workforce of 47,000 people in Switzerland. Overall, the member companies of the SIA account for about 85 per cent of insurance premiums generated in the Swiss market. This makes the insurance industry and thus the SIA a major force in the Swiss economy. Private insurers are therefore committed to the successful development of the areas in which they operate, both in business and in social and political terms, and thus assume economic responsibility.
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