IIS honour reflects SCOR turnaround: Kessler

Denis Kessler, chief executive of SCOR, said he is proud to have been elected to join the International Insurance Society’s (IIS) Hall of Fame in 2014. He said he believed that the honour reflected the turnaround achieved at the global reinsurer during his tenure.

Kessler received the award at a Gala Dinner held last night at the IIS’s annual conference being held in London. He is only the second French executive to have ever joined the Hall of Fame. The first was Claude Bébéar, founder of the AXA Group, elected in 1999.

“I believe this recognition illustrates that turning around SCOR is seen as an achievement in the industry,” Kessler told Intelligent Insurer ahead of the official ceremony.

“At SCOR we had significant liabilities and we had to literally start from scratch. We had to convince new shareholders and to regain confidence of clients and brokers. We started from a very negative position but through sheer energy and hard work, we created a new company again. It is an achievement I am personally very proud of and I am delighted that those efforts have been recognised by the IIS in this way.”