Munich Re Subsidiary NewRe Names Braune as CEO, Succeeding Strasser
New Reinsurance Co. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Munich Re, announced that its board of directors appointed Dr. Thomas Braune as its new chief executive officer. Braune will assume his new role on Oct. 1, 2020, succeeding Dr. Renate Strasser who, after 16 years with Munich Re, has decided to take an opportunity outside of the group.
Braune, a highly experienced reinsurance expert, joins NewRe with more than 25 years in the industry. Since joining Munich Re in 1992, he has held many strategic management functions. Most recently, he was in charge of Munich Re’s life and health reinsurance business in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.
“We are fortunate to have someone of Thomas Braune’s calibre and experience step up to lead NewRe. With him we have appointed a strong strategic thinker and communicator who is customer-focused and will vastly drive and strengthen NewRe’s financial performance,” said Claudia Hasse, speaking on behalf of the board of directors.
NewRe said its strategy remains unchanged and strongly embedded in intensive collaboration with brokers on standard P/C reinsurance in combination with developing customized reinsurance solutions for clients.
Going forward, NewRe will continue to write significant lines of treaty excess of loss with a preference for natural perils and motor exposures with European cedents, said the company.
Syncora to sell guarantee insurance subsidiary to Star Insurance for £323m
Bermuda-domiciled Syncora has agreed to sell its financial guarantee insurance subsidiary Syncora Guarantee to Star Insurance for $392.5m (£323.61m) in an all-cash deal.
Star Insurance is an entity organised by GoldenTree Asset Management on behalf of the latter’s managed funds and accounts.
The deal is expected to take place by the end of the fourth quarter of 2019 or during the first quarter of 2020.
Syncora Guarantee, which is based in New York, offers financial guarantee insurance on the debt obligations of issuers across the world. The company guarantees US municipal bonds, debt backed by utilities and selected infrastructure projects, asset-backed securities, specialised risks, collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), and others.
The holding company said that it received solicitations of interest from dozens of potential buyers.
Syncora CEO and president Frederick Hnat said: “This agreement is the culmination of years of hard work and focus on our core strategies of risk reduction, asset monetization and enhancing value for our shareholders.
“We are very pleased with the terms of the agreement with Star Insurance, an entity organized by GoldenTree, one of the largest independent asset managers focused on credit, and believe that it helps accomplish our long stated goal of optimizing shareholder value and returning capital to shareholders.”