New Gen Re boss revealed; asked to re-position reinsurer for ‘next chapter’

Ajit Jain, Warren Buffett’s right hand man, has revealed the new chief executive of reinsurer Gen Re in an internal memo issued today (Friday May 20) in which he also expresses concerns that Gen Re has become less relevant in the market.

He revealed that Kara Raiguel, an actuary by background who has been a key player in Berkshire Hathaway’s reinsurance division for the past 15 years, will become chief executive when Tad Montross, the chief executive of Gen Re since 2008, retires.

Jain describes Raiguel as being his “secret weapon” for the past ten years. Her accomplishments at Berkshire Hathaway, he said, have included the establishment of a significant workers’ compensation operation in California, a foray into the Indian reinsurance market, the formation of its municipal bond insurer and she played a leading role in some of its largest retroactive reinsurance transactions.

“In short, Kara is a true renaissance woman in the insurance and reinsurance industry,” he said.

“On a personal level, Kara is a high energy, collegial and fast thinking executive. She loves challenging work and enjoys making things happen. When I first met her I knew she was going to be a high performing, low maintenance colleague. She has exceeded my high performing expectations and has fallen well short of my maintenance expectations – not just low but zero maintenance.”

He added that he felt she is the right person to succeed Montross.

Jain also commented on the performance of Gen Re in the memo and the way it is perceived in the market. He said that he has evaluated the business recently and has been very impressed by its platform, client relationships, product portfolio and solid balance sheet. He said Montross has done an “unbelievable” job of addressing old mistakes and avoiding new ones.

“Failing to do either has resulted in disaster for other companies in our industry. Tad has masterfully navigated Gen Re through these challenges. While the reinsurance industry will be going through a shake out over the coming years, I have no doubt we will be one of the few winners in that process,” Jain said.

But he also expressed concerns. He said that discussions he has had with executives, both internal and external, had led him to believe that Gen Re was becoming less relevant in the marketplace.

“That concern, together with serious headwinds that the reinsurance business is facing and will continue to face, requires us all to consider whether and what actions might be taken to best position Gen Re for the next chapter.”

He added: “For the next 90 days or so I have asked Kara to have as her first priority and chief objective to determine how to best grow Gen Re’s book of business without sacrificing the underwriting discipline and integrity that has been the hallmark of the past few years as well as how to best broaden the business relationships without doing damage to the platform.”