Carlo Ferraresi, Generali Chief Risk Officer, elected Chair of the CRO Forum.
Carlo Ferraresi is Group CRO of Assicurazioni Generali since September 2022. He has a long standing career in the financial services industry, where he worked as CFO and CEO of Cattolica Assicurazioni, he was managing director of the Financial Institutions Group at Crédit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank, senior banker at ABN AMRO as responsible for advisory services for the largest Italian insurance and banking groups, was head of Risk Financing in Marsh, senior director at Arthur Andersen as well as at Deloitte. Carlo began his career at Generali back in 1990 as an underwriter in the Marine division of the UK branch moving later into Corporate Finance department of Generali Group in Trieste.
Carlo graduated with honours in Political Science from the University of Padua and holds an MBA from the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan. He is currently a Member of the Italian Corporate Governance Committee, a Member of the scientific committee of UNESCO “Future of Education for Sustainability” group and a Member of the Planning Committee at the Research Center of Technology, Innovation and Financial Services (CeTIF) at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan.
Commenting on his new role as Chair, Carlo said: “In times of unprecedented challenges, effective risk management plays a pivotal role in navigating uncertainties and safeguarding the resilience of our industry. In this crucial moment, it is a privilege to take a Chair role of this Forum, committed to defining best practices and addressing emerging challenges in the insurance landscape.
I look forward with enthusiasm to working with fellow CROs to promote financial stability and contribute to the progress of the insurance industry and I would like to thank Peter Giger for the brilliant job done as Chair and the invaluable contributions provided to our association.”
The CRO forum is very pleased that Carolina Otero, Chief Risk Officer of Allianz, remains as vice-chair.
Carolina Otero was appointed Allianz´s Group Chief Risk Officer in January 2023 and took over the role of vice-chair of the CRO Forum from Aylin Somersan Coqui who moved to a different position within Allianz.
Carolina has worked in several roles and subsidiaries within the AZ Group since 2009 when she joined the Company, including Group Risk team leader (2009-2012), head of the business division for US insurance business (2013-2015) and Actuarial team leader for Life business (2016) in Allianz SE. She took the position of CFO in AZ Argentina in 2017 and then CEO in November 2019 until end of 2022. Prior to joining Allianz, Carolina worked 12 years at ING in different actuarial roles in Argentina, The Netherlands and Chile. Carolina holds an actuarial degree from the University of Buenos Aires.
Patrick Raaflaub, Chief Risk Officer of Swiss Re, elected vice-chair of the CRO Forum.
Patrick has been Group CRO at Swiss Re since 2014. He began his career as an economist at Credit Suisse. He then was a founding member of a consulting start-up and research fellow at the University of St.Gallen. He joined Swiss Re in 1994 and was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Swiss Re Italia SpA in 1997, and then was Divisional Controller Americas Division from 2000. He worked as Head of Finance Zurich from 2003, then Regional Chief Financial Officer Europe and Asia from 2005. From 2006, he was Head of Group Capital Management, where he was responsible for capital management at Group level and global regulatory affairs. In 2008 he joined the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA as Chief Executive Officer. Patrick Raaflaub returned to Swiss Re as Group Chief Risk Officer and member of the Group Executive Committee in September 2014. Patrick holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of St. Gallen. He currently serves as Vice Chair of the Managing Board of the Swiss Insurance Association.
The CRO Forum would like to thank Peter Giger, Chief Risk Officer of Zurich, for chairing the CRO Forum since October 2022. Under his leadership, the CRO Forum published several papers, amongst others ‘Energy Storage Systems, ‘ORSA Stress and Scenario testing’ and ‘Critical Infrastructures Disrupted’.