SCOR chairman Denis Kessler dies aged 71

SCOR chairman Denis Kessler has died aged 71, the reinsurer stated on Friday.

The enterprise paid tribute to Kessler, who it described as “an iconic figure of the insurance and reinsurance world, and more widely of the French business world”. Kessler joined SCOR in 2002 as chairman and CEO, turning into non-executive chairman of the worldwide reinsurer on June 30, 2021.

SCOR vice-chairman Augustin de Romanet is about to chair the board for an interim interval, with a brand new chairman to be appointed following an ongoing course of.

The reinsurer’s administrators hailed Kessler as having made a “profound imprint” on the group.

“We salute the memory of a great man and an extraordinary leader, who was passionate about the insurance and reinsurance industries, their techniques, their values and their philosophy,” they stated in a joint remark. “Denis has made a tremendous contribution to SCOR’s development over the past 21 years, and more widely to public debate on major contemporary economic and social policy issues.”

SCOR CEO Thierry Léger praised Kessler’s “unparalleled passion” for reinsurance and his ambitions to make the enterprise a frontrunner within the reinsurance area.

“I am privileged to have had the opportunity to work alongside Denis,” Léger stated. “He leaves us a rare legacy.

“It is now up to us to carry on his work.”

SCOR chairman Denis Kessler – a life’s work

Kessler was born on March 25, 1952 in Mulhouse, France. Prior to getting into reinsurance, he taught at a secondary college earlier than taking on a profession as an economics researcher, appearing as an assistant lecturer in economics at Paris X-Nanterre University from 1978 to 1985.

From 1982 to 1990, he chaired CEREPI, the Center for Study and Research on Savings, Wealth and Inequalities.

Further notable roles beforehand held by Kessler embrace professor at Nancy II and later a professor at EHESS, the School of Advanced Studies within the Social Science, from 1990.

He was chair of the Foundation for Economic and Financial Research from 1985 to 1990 and sat on the board of administrators of Union des assurances de Paris for 2 stints, from 1983 to 1986 and 1988 to 1990.

In 1985, he was named chairman of the Banking Services Users’ Committee on the French National Credit Council, a job he held till 1990. That 12 months, Kessler grew to become chairman of the French Federation of Insurance Companies (FFSA) and remained in put up till 1997, after which from 1998 to 2002.

He was on the manager committee of the National Council of French Employers (CNPF) and have become its government vice-chairman in 1994, and was vice-chairman and chairman of the Economic Commission.

Kessler was appointed senior government vice-president and government committee member of AXA in 1997, later leaving to help Ernest-Antoine Seillière, chairman of the CNPF.

Kessler acted as a board member for a number of corporations, together with Dexia (1999-2009), Bolloré (1999-2013), BNP Paribas (2000-2022), Invesco (since 2002) and Dassault Aviation (2003-2014).

The late SCOR chairman was elected to the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences of the Institut de France in 2016.