Zurich, January 2023
Dear Business Partners,
Today we are writing to announce that Thomas Heintz will be starting his well-deserved retirement from Echo Re / DEVK RE effective September 2023. Thomas has played an instrumental role not only in the development of the agricultural department but also in the context of the wider organization. His leadership and 35-years industry experience helped us lifting various best practice standards and we are proud about the positioning we were able to achieve in the agriculture reinsurance market. We would like to sincerely thank Thomas for the years of dedicated service which involved many significant accomplishments.
Thomas Heintz and Fabian Düggelin have joined the DEVK Group in 2017/2018 to build a worldwide agriculture portfolio for both reinsurance carriers of the group being based in Cologne (DEVK RE) and Zurich (Echo Re). Both carriers appeared as quoting markets from the beginning. The agriculture team generated a remarkable portfolio in size and quality and was able to establish the DEVK Group as a truly recognized player in the agriculture space. After the initial build-up phase and as part of long-term succession planning, Thomas proposed for himself a partial phasing out already in October 2020 when he passed the baton to his long-term colleague Fabian Düggelin who assumed the role of “Global Head Agriculture”. Fabian, serving the agriculture reinsurance industry since more than 20-years, guaranteed a seamless transition and is since then successfully leading the team.
With our ambition to make the handover of country responsibilities as smooth as possible, Beat Krauer has already inherited the underwriting responsibility for the Canadian market after joining the team beginning of this year. Going forward, the Indian subcontinent will be handled by Fabian Düggelin.
As consequence of the outlined changes please see latest country responsibilities effective immediately as follows:
▪ Fabian Düggelin, Global Head Agriculture
Echo Re: China, India
fabian.dueggelin@echore.com
▪ Glauco de Souza, Senior Underwriter Agriculture
Echo Re: LATAM, Pan-Africa (excl. South Africa)
glauco.desouza@echore.com
DEVK RE: USA, Israel, Eastern-Europe
glauco.desouza@devk.de
▪ Beat Krauer, Senior Underwriter Agriculture
Echo Re: Asia (excl. India, China), South Africa
beat.krauer@echore.com
DEVK RE: Canada, Western-Europe
beat.krauer@devk.de
▪ Ronny Abplanalp, Agriculture Actuary (CCRA, ARe, ARM)
ronny.abplanalp@echore.com
We value your support and look forward to continuing working with you.
With best regards,
Wolfgang Jöbkes, CUO DEVK RE
Beatrix Grimm, EVP & Deputy CUO DEVK RE
Paul Hertelendy, CUO Echo Re
Fabian Düggelin, Global Head Agriculture DEVK RE / Echo Re
Echo Re Ltd., Brandschenkestrasse 18-20, 8001 Zurich (Switzerland)
Press contact:
Gregor Schulte, Chief Financial & Operating Officer, phone +41 44 283 16 17, gregor.schulte@echore.com
About Echo Re Ltd
Echo Re Ltd. is a Zurich-based reinsurer founded in 2008 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the German DEVK Group (Rating “A-“ confirmed from Standard & Poor’s and Fitch). Echo Re serves clients in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean with dedicated and extensive reinsurance know how in P&C as well as Specialty Lines of Business such as Agriculture, Marine/Energy, Engineering, Extended Warranty, Credit/Bond and Cyber.