RenRe names Lang permanent CRO. Branagan to remain as advisor

RenaissanceRe, the Bermuda based reinsurer and third-party ILS capital manager, has announced that Robin Lang is being named as permanent Group Chief Risk Officer, to succeed Ian Branagan in the role.

Branagan has been on compassionate leave for a time, but is now set to remain with RenaissanceRe as a senior advisor to the company going forwards.

Branagan originally joined RenaissanceRe back in 1998, opening a Dublin, Ireland branch for the reinsurer and leading its risk modelling and client risk intelligence activities.

He moved to Bermuda for RenRe and most recently to London, assuming underwriting authority for a number of classes of business and ultimately becoming Group Chief Risk Officer in 2009.

Lang has held the position of RenaissanceRe’s Interim Chief Risk Officer since April 2023, but now takes on that role permanently.

He has worked at RenRe since 2001, when he joined the reinsurer as a Vice President of Corporate Risk.

He became the Chief Risk Officer for RenaissanceRe’s European Operations in 2017, also becoming the SVP with responsibility for Corporate Risk, then took on the SVP and Head of Risk Oversight position in 2021.

As Group Chief Risk Officer, Lang will remain based in London, taking responsibility for global risk management and governance, including external supervision.

Kevin O’Donnell, President and Chief Executive Officer of RenaissanceRe, commented, “Robin is a deeply knowledgeable risk practitioner, bringing over two decades of experience with RenaissanceRe focused on global risk management, risk governance, and external supervision. We are pleased to promote Robin into the important role of Group Chief Risk Officer, and I look forward to continuing to work with him as we advance our best-in-class risk culture.

“Ian’s contributions to RenaissanceRe’s success and culture over his approximately 25 years with the company have been immense. He was instrumental in developing our Integrated System and has long been committed to connecting data, technology and people to advance our view of risk and progress our strategy. More broadly, Ian has been a leading industry advocate for innovative solutions to close both the knowledge and protection gap in vulnerable communities. Our thoughts are with Ian as he focuses on his family, and we look forward to continuing to benefit from his wise counsel in his role as a senior advisor.”

As one of the largest managers of third-party reinsurance capital and insurance-linked securities (ILS) strategies, RenaissanceRe’s activities in that space require strong oversight for the benefit of its investors and clients, which Lang will now have input to as Group CRO.