Swiss Re names Kera McDonald as group CUO

Industry giant Swiss Re has appointed Kera McDonald, currently Chief Underwriting Officer of Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, as the Group Chief Underwriting Officer and member of the Group Executive Committee, effective June 1st, 2025, subject to regulatory approval.

In her new role, McDonald will drive underwriting across all business units, steer the reinsurer’s capacity allocation, define mid-term underwriting ambitions and approve very large or complex transactions.

McDonald has over three decades of professional experience and has been with Swiss Re since 2006 in various specialist and leadership roles. She has been a member of the Corporate Solutions Executive Committee since July 2019 and the Chief Underwriting Officer for this Business Unit since 2022.

Andreas Berger, Group Chief Executive Officer of Swiss Re, commented, “Underwriting is at the core of everything we do, and the re-establishment of this function underscores our commitment to enhancing technical excellence across all businesses. As the Chief Underwriting Officer for Corporate Solutions, Kera has been instrumental in improving costing accuracy and significantly enhancing portfolio management discipline and processes. I’m very pleased to welcome Kera to Swiss Re’s Group Executive Committee in this new role.”

Separately, Patrick Raaflaub, Swiss Re’s current Group Chief Risk Officer, has decided to retire by the end of September 2025, after a combined 25-year tenure at Swiss Re. The reinsurer stated that his succession process is in progress and will be announced in due course.

Raaflaub joined Swiss Re in 1994 and held several leadership roles in Finance and Capital Management. In 2008, he left the company to become CEO of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA before returning to Swiss Re in 2014 as Group Chief Risk Officer and member of the Group Executive Committee.

Berger added, “It has been a privilege to serve on the Group Executive Committee with Patrick over the past years. As the Group Chief Risk Officer, he has successfully driven an integrated approach to managing current and emerging risks across the company.

“I respect his wish to retire after such a long and rewarding career and would like to thank him for his many contributions over the past years and his commitment to stay with the company until we have appointed his successor. On behalf of the entire executive team, I would like to wish him all the best for the future.”

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