Berkshire Taps Insider To Head Gen Re Unit -- WSJ
May 21 2016 - 3:03AM
Dow Jones News
By Anupreeta Das
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has appointed one of its longtime
reinsurance executives, Kara Raiguel, to the post of chief
executive of its General Re unit, according to a memo.
Ms. Raiguel will take the reins from Tad Montross, who is
retiring. She will report to Ajit Jain, who heads Berkshire
Hathaway Reinsurance Group and has long been considered a potential
CEO successor to Warren Buffett. Mr. Montross reported directly to
Mr. Buffett.
Mr. Jain called Ms. Raiguel his "secret weapon" in a memo to Gen
Re employees announcing her new role. He described her as
"high-energy, collegial and fast-thinking," adding that Ms. Raiguel
is a "true Renaissance woman in the insurance and reinsurance
industry."
Mr. Jain said in the memo he has been evaluating Gen Re's
business in recent weeks, given the headwinds the reinsurance
industry has faced in recent years from an onslaught of new money
that is pushing down prices.
For the next three months, Ms. Raiguel's priority will be to
"determine how best to grow Gen Re's book of business" without
sacrificing its business principles.
Berkshire owns dozens of insurance companies, from auto insurer
Geico to reinsurers such as Gen Re, which help other insurers
offload some of their underwriting risk. Mr. Jain, a 30-year
veteran of Berkshire, helped fuel the conglomerate's growth by
turning the obscure reinsurance business into a source of fat
profits.
Berkshire acquired Gen Re in 1998. Together, Gen Re and the
reinsurance division that Mr. Jain leads account for nearly
three-quarters of Berkshire's $88 billion of "float" -- money that
insurance businesses hold and invest for their benefit, exploiting
the fact that premiums are paid up front and claims generally are
paid out much later.
Write to Anupreeta Das at anupreeta.das@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 21, 2016 02:48 ET (06:48 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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