Clarke Appointed PartnerRe President as Acquisition by EXOR Progresses

Partner Re announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Emmanuel Clarke as President of PartnerRe Ltd. effective immediately. He will be responsible for leading and managing all of the Company’s operations.

PartnerRe also said that David Zwiener, Interim President and CEO since January 26, 2015, would remain in the role of Interim CEO. He “will dedicate his time to bringing EXOR’s acquisition of PartnerRe to a successful close, at which point he will step down. Both appointments have received the full support of EXOR.”

Clarke has served as CEO of PartnerRe Global and a member of the executive management team since 2010. He has had an 18-year career at PartnerRe, during which time he was instrumental in building the Company’s Global reinsurance business.

Mr. Jean-Paul Montupet noted that Clarke “has stood out as an exceptional talent throughout his career at PartnerRe and I look forward to working with him.” He also thanked Zwiener “for agreeing to continue as Interim CEO during this important transition phase.”

Montupet also indicated that he is “very pleased with the spirit of trust and cooperation that has developed between EXOR and the PartnerRe Board and management team.”

Clarke joined PartnerRe as an underwriter in 1997 with the acquisition of SAFR, and was appointed Head of Credit and Surety, Global in 2001, becoming Deputy Head of Specialty Lines, Global in 2002, Head of Property and Casualty, Global in 2006 and Head of Specialty Lines, Global in 2008. In his most recent role as CEO of PartnerRe Global, he initiated a restructuring of the Global organization to better align it with the needs of PartnerRe’s clients.

He has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University Paris Dauphine, specializing in Finance and Controlling and an MBA in International Business from Baruch College of CUNY.

Clarke said: “I am honored to accept this position and to have the opportunity to lead PartnerRe’s operations, particularly at this important time in our history.” The announcement also noted that under his “leadership, PartnerRe’s executive management team will remain the same with the positions of Bill Babcock as Chief Financial Officer, Laurie Desmet as Chief Operations Officer and Tad Walker as CEO of North America unchanged.”

PartnerRe did announce some additional changes, which were detailed as follows:
• Charles Goldie has been appointed CEO of PartnerRe Global, heading up PartnerRe Global’s executive team. He steps into the role previously held by Clarke as leader of the company’s Global business units, except Catastrophe.

• CEO of North America, Tad Walker, assumes executive responsibility for Catastrophe, and will continue in his current role as CEO of North America with additional executive responsibility for the Catastrophe business unit. He has previous experience as Head of Catastrophe, responsible for managing PartnerRe’s catastrophe book worldwide.

• Marvin Pestcoe rejoins PartnerRe as Interim CEO of Life and Health. He is a former member of PartnerRe’s executive management team, and returns to his role as CEO of PartnerRe’s Life and Health business units on an interim basis. Since retiring from PartnerRe in April 2014, Pestcoe has continued to work with the Company in a consulting capacity.

The bulletin also indicated that the “acquisition of PartnerRe by EXOR is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016. The ‘Go-Shop’ period as per the merger agreement expires on September 14; to date, all the potential buyers contacted have declined and no expression of interest has been received by PartnerRe.”

Source: PartnerRe