Organisation
Caption: Simplified presentation of the group structure of Bâloise Holding AG.
Caption: Organisation chart of Baloise Group.
Corporate Executive Committee
President of the Corporate Executive Committee of the Baloise Group (Group CEO)
Gert De Winter (1966, Belgium, MSc) studied applied economics at the University of Antwerp. From 1988 to 2004, he performed various roles at Accenture in Brussels for issues relating to IT and business transformation management in the financial sector. He was made a partner at the firm in the year 2000. In 2005, he joined the Baloise Group as Chief Information Officer and Head of HR of the Mercator insurance company in Belgium. From 2009 to 2015, Gert De Winter was Chief Executive Officer of Baloise Insurance, which was formed in 2011 from the merger of the three insurance companies Mercator, Nateus and Avéro. Gert De Winter has been Group CEO since January 2016. He is a member of the Management Board of the Basel Chamber of Commerce and the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce.
Chief IT Officer (CTO)
Alexander Bockelmann (1974, Germany, Dr rer. nat.) studied geoecology and environmental sciences at the universities of Bayreuth and East Anglia before completing his doctorate at the University of Tübingen’s faculty of geosciences. Dr Alexander Bockelmann is a proven expert in digitalisation and transformation, and has many years of experience in the industry. He previously worked as an IT strategy and transformation consultant at Boston Consulting Group and in various senior roles at Allianz SE in Germany and the USA. At the end of 2013, he moved to UNIQA Insurance Group AG in Austria in the role of Group CIO and ultimately became Chief Digital Officer and Group Chief Information Officer on the Management Board. In February 2019, Dr Alexander Bockelmann joined the Baloise Group to lead the newly created Corporate Division IT.
Head of Corporate Division Asset Management
Matthias Henny (1971, Switzerland, Dr phil.) completed his undergraduate and postgraduate studies in physics at the University of Basel. From 1998 to 2003, he was employed at McKinsey&Co., before switching to what was then the Winterthur Group, where he was Head of Financial Engineering in Asset Management until 2007. Subsequently, he was a member of the management team at AXA Winterthur, as Head of Asset Management (until 2010) and as CFO. In 2012, Dr Matthias Henny joined the Baloise Group. As CEO of Baloise Asset Management AG, he was responsible for the administration of approximately CHF 50 billion in assets. Dr Matthias Henny became a member of the Corporate Executive Committee in May 2017. He manages the Corporate Division Asset Management incorporating the Investment Strategy and Investment Controlling, Business Development, Portfolio Management, Finance, Real Estate and Corporate Services units.
CEO Basler Switzerland
Michael Müller (1971, Switzerland, lic. oec. publ.) graduated in economics from the University of Zurich, specialising in insurance and accounting/finance. He began his career with Basler Versicherungen in 1997, starting as a management trainee, then working in Group Finance and eventually becoming Deputy Head and, in 2004, Head of Financial Accounting for the Baloise Group. In 2009, as Head of Finance and Risk, he became a member of the senior management team in Corporate Division Switzerland. He has been a member of the Corporate Executive Committee and CEO of Corporate Division Switzerland since March 2011, and as such has headed up the insurance and banking business in Switzerland. Michael Müller is Vice President of the Swiss Insurance Association (SVV) and a member of the Board of Foundation of Stiftung Finanzplatz Basel and the Executive Board of the Association of Basel Insurance Companies. He also sits on the board of the Promotion Society of the Institute of Insurance Economics at the University of St. Gallen.
Head of Finance (CFO)
Carsten Stolz (1968, Germany /Switzerland, Dr rer. pol.) studied business economics at Fribourg University and gained a doctorate specialising in financial management. He holds an Executive Master in Change from INSEAD. He joined the Baloise Group in 2002 as Head of Financial Relations. From 2009 to 2011, he was the Baloise Group’s Head of Financial Accounting&Corporate Finance. Between 2011 and 2017, he was Head of Finance and Risk, and thus a member of the Executive Committee, at Basler Versicherungen Switzerland. Dr Carsten Stolz became a member of the Corporate Executive Committee in May 2017. He manages the Corporate Division Finance with its departments Group Accounting&Reporting, Financial Planning&Analysis, Group Risk Management and Corporate Communications&Investor Relations as well as the appointed actuary for Swiss business at Baloise and the Head of Regulatory Affairs. Since July 2020, his responsibilities have also included Mergers & Acquisitions, Group Procurement and Run-off. Dr Carsten Stolz is a member of the Finance and Regulation Committee of the Swiss Insurance Association (SVV).
Board of Directors
Thomas von Planta (1961, CH, Dr iur., lawyer) is a member of the Board of Directors since 2017 and its Chairman since 30 April 2021. Until March 2019, he was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bellevue Group AG, Bank am Bellevue AG and Bellevue Asset Management AG. Prior to that, he worked for Goldman Sachs in Zurich, Frankfurt and London for around ten years. Between 2002 and 2006 he held the position of Head a.i. of Investment Banking and Head of Corporate Finance at Vontobel Group in Zurich. Until April 2021, he was the managing director of CorFinAd AG, a company specialising in advisory services for M&A transactions and capital market financing, that he had founded. Thomas von Planta is a member of the Board of Directors of BB Biotech AG since March 2019. As Chairman of Baloise’s Board of Directors his function is independent and non-executive.
Andreas Beerli (1951, Switzerland, Dr iur.) has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2011. He studied law at the University of Basel. In 1979, he started working as an underwriter for the German market at Swiss Re. From 1985 to 1993, he performed various managerial roles at Baloise, with the main focus on supervising and supporting several foreign units. He then returned to Swiss Re, where he became a member of the Group Executive Committee in 2000, first in the United States as Head of Swiss Re Americas and, most recently, in Zurich as Chief Operating Officer for the entire Swiss Re Group. He acts as an independent adviser on the boards of directors and advisory boards of companies and professional associations. He is a member of the Advisory Board of Accenture Switzerland. Dr Andreas Beerli is an independent non-executive director.
Christoph B. Gloor (1966, Switzerland, degree in business economics HWV) has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2014. Since November 2019, he has been a director and limited partner in Basel-based private bank E. Gutzwiller&Cie, Banquiers. He had previously been Chief Executive Officer of private bank La Roche& Co AG before going on to become a member of the Executive Committee and CEO of Notenstein La Roche Privatbank AG and Deputy Head of Wealth Management at Bank Vontobel AG. Prior to joining La Roche&Co AG in 1998, he worked for Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC) before moving to Vitra (International). Between 2013 and 2015, Christoph B. Gloor served as president of the Association of Swiss Private Banks and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Swiss Bankers Association, and until the beginning of April 2019 was a member of the Board of Managing Directors of the Basel Banking Association. Christoph B. Gloor is an independent non-executive director.
Dr Karin Lenzlinger Diedenhofen (1959, Switzerland, Dr oec. HSG) has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2021. She is Vice-Chairwoman of SV Group AG since 2017, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Zürcher Oberland Medien AG since 2015, member of the Board of Directors of Bank Linth LLB AG and of Übermorgen Ventures Investment AG, member of various foundation boards and organisations, in particular for corporate responsibility and sustainability. Since 2013, Dr Karin Lenzlinger Diedenhofen is Chairwoman of the Zurich Chamber of Commerce and member of the Board of economiesuisse. From 1991 to 2019, she held various positions, most recently as CEO and delegate of the Board of Directors at Lenzlinger Söhne AG, Nänikon/Uster. Dr Karin Lenzlinger Diedenhofen is an independent non-executive director.
Hugo Lasat (1964, Belgium, Master in Economic Sciences, Master in Finance) has sat on the Board of Directors since 2016. He is the CEO of Brussels-based Degroof Petercam Asset Management (DPAM), a member of the Board of Directors of Banque Degroof Petercam France, President of DPAM France and a member of the Supervisory Board of Degroof Petercam Asset Services, Luxembourg. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Arvestar Asset Management, Brussels. His managerial roles prior to that include CEO of Amonis Pension Fund and CEO of Candriam Investors Group. He is a guest professor at KU Leuven (Brussels Campus) and a member of the Financial Commission of the Belgian Red Cross. Hugo Lasat is an independent non-executive director.
Christoph Mäder (1959, Switzerland, lawyer) has sat on the Board of Directors since 2019. From 2000 to 2018, he was a member of the Syngenta International AG executive team with responsibility for legal and tax. Until 2018, he was a member of the Management Board of the Basel Chamber of Commerce. From 2006 to 2018, Christoph Mäder was a member of the Management Board of scienceindustries, and between 2008 and 2014 he also served as its president. He has been president of economiesuisse, the umbrella organisation representing Swiss business, since October 2020. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of Lonza Group AG since 2016 and served as its Vice-Chairman since 2020. He has sat on the Board of Directors of EMS Chemie Holding AG since 2018 and has been a member of the Board of Directors of Assivalor AG since 2019. Christoph Mäder is an independent non-executive director.
Markus R. Neuhaus (1958, Switzerland, Dr iur., qualified tax expert) has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2019. He was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of PricewaterhouseCoopers AG (PwC) from 2012 to 2019 and served as its CEO for a period of nine years prior to that. He did not hold any operational role at PwC from 2012 and was not personally involved in the Company’s audit engagement for Baloise (until 2015). Dr Markus R. Neuhaus is Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Barry Callebaut AG and Orior AG. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Galenica AG and Jacobs Holding AG. He is Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees of Avenir Suisse, Vice Chairman of the Foundation Board of stars – the leaders for the next generation, Vice-Chair of the Management Board of Zurich’s Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of economiesuisse’s Finance and Taxation Commission and a member of the Board of Trustees of the ETH Foundation. Dr Markus R. Neuhaus is an independent non-executive director.
Thomas Pleines (1955, Germany, lawyer) has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2012. From 2003 to 2005 he was CEO and delegate of the Board of Directors at Allianz Suisse, Zurich, and from 2006 to 2010 he was CEO of Allianz Versicherungs-AG, Munich, and an executive director at Allianz Deutschland AG, Munich. He chairs the presidential boards of DEKRA e.V., Stuttgart, and DEKRA e.V. Dresden; as well as the supervisory boards of DEKRA SE, Stuttgart, and SÜDVERS Holding GmbH&Co. KG, Au near Freiburg. Thomas Pleines is an independent non-executive director.
Hans-Jörg Schmidt-Trenz (1959, Germany, Prof. Dr rer. pol.) has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2018. He is a professor of economics at Saarland University and the University of Hamburg and Founding President of the HSBA Hamburg School of Business Administration. From 1996 to 2017, he was Chief Executive Officer of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. Prof. Hans-Jörg Schmidt-Trenz is Committee Chair of the General Council and Executive Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce’s World Chambers Federation. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Hamburger Sparkasse and the Hamburg Academic Foundation, sits on the advisory board of HIP Hamburg Innovation Port and is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Tafel foundation of Hamburg-Schleswig-Holstein. Hans-Jörg Schmidt-Trenz is an independent non-executive director.
Marie-Noëlle Venturi - Zen-Ruffinen (1975, Switzerland, Prof. Dr iur., lawyer) has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2016. She holds a PhD and master’s degree in law and a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Fribourg. She is a lawyer and honorary professor at the School of Economics and Management at the University of Geneva, where she mainly lectures on corporate law. Professor Marie-Noëlle Venturi - Zen-Ruffinen was a partner in the Geneva law firm Tavernier Tschanz until 2012, and since that time has been of counsel for the firm. She is president of the Swiss Board Institute foundation, a member of the Board of Directors of Banco Santander International SA, a member of the Board of Directors of Ina Invest Holding AG and Ina Invest AG and a member of the Board of Management of the Swiss Institute of Directors. Professor Marie-Noëlle Venturi - Zen-Ruffinen is an independent non-executive director.
