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Ulrich Wallin: a safe pair of hands

10 September 2009

Ulrich Wallin took over from Wilhelm Zeller as CEO of Hannover Re at the start of July. In the wake of the financial turmoil last year, his quieter, pragmatic approach may be just what the company needs.

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In his first two months as chief executive officer of Hannover Re, Ulrich Wallin has been luckier than most.

Wallin stepped into his new role on July 1, taking over from Wilhelm Zeller who had led the firm for more than a decade. Unlike his counterparts at Swiss Re and Munich Re – both of whose firms were suffering from large investment losses and rating downgrades when their CEOs took the helm – Wallin inherited a firm in relatively good shape.

On August 6, the company reported a first-half net profit of Eu419m ($589.2m), up 66.1% from the previous year’s first-half net income of Eu252.2m.

This was a welcome comeback from the start of the year when the reinsurer reported its first-ever annual loss of Eu127m for the full-year 2008, after suffering equity write-downs in the fourth quarter.

Analysts have praised Hannover Re for outperforming its rivals in...


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