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Global Insurance Leadership Panel

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Denis Kessler was a 23 year-old student at the Paris business school HEC when he first worked in the insurance industry, as a summer intern at Tokio Marine in Tokyo, in 1975.
He then embarked on a 15-year academic career as a researcher, doctor and university professor at the University of Paris X Nanterre, the University of Nancy II and the renowned Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris. His works in the fields of social and economic science included texts on “life cycle theory”, “aging, social security and pensions”, “decision making under uncertainty”, “saving and intergenerational transfers” and “insurance market dynamics”, and were published extensively in leading academic reviews. He holds a PhD in Economic Sciences, and led a research centre at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) until 1990.
Denis has given lectures in many arenas throughout his career, and has taken part in numerous debates concerning both his fields of research and policy making in general. His academic achievements have been recognised by honorary degrees (Doctor Honoris Causa) from the Moscow Academy of Finance and the University of Montréal (HEC).
Very early on in his career, he was closely associated with several global organisations such as the OECD, the World Bank and the Geneva Association (International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics), where in the mid 1980s he became deputy General Secretary and Chairman of the Scientific Committee. He has been a member of the Board of the Geneva Association since 2005. From 1990 to 2002 he was a member of the Presidential Council and a Vice-President of the Comité Européen des Assurances (CEA). In 1990, he became Chairman of the Federation of French insurance Companies (FFSA). He held this position until 1997, and then again from 1998 until 2002.
His career in insurance began at the age of 32, when he was appointed a non-executive Board member of UAP, the leader on the European insurance market at the time. He remained in this position until 1990, when he joined the FFSA. Between 1997 and 1998, he was Senior Executive Vice-President and Member of the Executive Committee of the AXA Group. He then became Senior Executive Président of Mouvement des Entreprises de France (MEDEF), a position he held until 2002.
Since November 2002, Denis Kessler has been CEO and Chairman of SCOR, the 5th largest reinsurer in the world. As CEO he has turned the company around and put it back on the path to growth, making several successful acquisitions, most notably Revios in 2006, Converium in 2007, and Transamerica Re in 2011. In 2010 and again in 2011, SCOR was elected Best Global Reinsurance Company by key market commentators. In 2011, Denis Kessler was elected Best Reinsurance Company CEO of the year by both Reactions and The Intelligent Insurer. SCOR is a corporate member of the IIS.
Besides his position as CEO of SCOR , Denis Kessler serves as an independent Board Member in leading global companies such as Invesco and BNP-Paribas.

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