Following the retirement of Executive Board member Bernd Zens (62) in April, the long-standing Chairman of the Executive Board Gottfried Rüßmann (63) and the future Chairman Michael Knaup (50) initially took over Bernd Zens‘ responsibilities at the reinsurance company on an interim basis. However, Gottfried Rüßmann will retire himself at the end of the year and Michael Knaup will succeed him as Chairman. The Supervisory Board has therefore initiated a generational change. Annette Hetzenegger will be responsible for the capital investment of DEVK Rückversicherungs- und Beteiligungs-AG. Dr. Fabian Pütz has been newly appointed to the board and will be responsible for reinsurance.

From trainee to Executive Board member

Dr. Fabian Pütz joined DEVK in 2011 as a student trainee. During his studies at the University of Applied Sciences in Cologne and his subsequent doctorate at the University of Limerick in Ireland, he specialized in reinsurance-related topics. From 2015 to 2018, he worked as an executive assistant to Bernd Zens on various reinsurance and investment projects. From 2018, he took over responsibility for the divisions Controlling, Technical Accounting/Claims and Business Intelligence/Reporting at ECHO Rückversicherungs-AG in Zurich, which is also part of the DEVK Group. DEVK RE serves clients in Europe and North America, ECHO RE in the regions Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. In May 2022, Pütz took over as Chief Executive Officer of ECHO RE. Subject to the pending approval of the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority BaFin, this new career step will give him additional responsibility on the Executive Board of DEVK Rückversicherungs- und Beteiligungs-AG from June 1, 2025. He will thus manage the reinsurance activities of both DEVK RE and ECHO RE. Pütz is married and currently lives in Switzerland.

Success story in Cologne and Zurich

With the appointment of Annette Hetzenegger and Dr. Fabian Pütz, the Supervisory Board is repositioning DEVK Rückversicherungs- und Beteiligungs-AG – DEVK RE. The DEVK Group intends to continue the success story of its reinsurance business, which now accounts for almost a quarter of the Group’s premium income and has thus become the main driver of growth. DEVK RE, based in Cologne, and Echo RE in Zurich, together insure more than 950 companies in over 120 countries.