AIG to make Schaper Global CUO when Validus Re sale completes

Insurance giant AIG has announced that Christopher Schaper will be named the firm’s Global Chief Underwriting Officer, effective when the previously announced sale of reinsurance unit Validus Re to RenaissanceRe completes.

Schaper is currently the CEO of AIG Re and has worked at AIG since joining the firm in 2019.

In that role, Schaper also had responsibility for AIG’s ILS fund operations AlphaCat Managers and in 2021 he took on the CEO responsibilities for the ILS unit AlphaCat as well.

Under Schaper’s watch, AIG consolidated its reinsurance division and embedded the ILS operation of AlphaCat within it.

Now, with the Validus Re and AlphaCat operations being sold to RenaissanceRe, in a deal expected to close in the fourth-quarter, Schaper is being given a broader role with oversight of underwriting across the AIG business globally.

In the new role as Global CUO of AIG, Schaper will report to Peter Zaffino, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AIG.

Zaffino commented, “Since joining AIG in 2019, Chris has been a results-driven and collaborative leader who has demonstrated a commitment to underwriting excellence, as well as strong portfolio management capabilities and financial acumen. I have worked closely with Chris for many years and look forward to continuing to collaborate with him in his new role as we seek to deliver sustained improvements in our financial results by reinforcing a culture of underwriting excellence, enhancing our core capabilities, and developing next generation risk analytics.”

Schaper added, “It is a privilege to be named to this role, and I look forward to working with Peter and colleagues across AIG to progress our strategic initiatives, particularly as they relate to underwriting excellence.”

Schaper has more than three decades of insurance and reinsurance market experience, including at Marsh where he was CEO of the managing general agent businesses including Victor since 2016. Prior to that, Schaper was President of Bermuda reinsurer Montpelier Re Ltd. and Underwriting Chairman of Blue Capital, Montpelier’s capital markets entity.

Before Montpelier, Schaper had worked in leadership positions at Endurance Specialty Insurance Ltd., including Chief Underwriting Officer and Head of Reinsurance, and Head of Casualty Treaty Reinsurance. Before that he held roles at Gerling Global Financial Products, Employers Reinsurance Corporation (a division of GE Capital), CIGNA and USF&G.