Management

Michele joined Athora in September 2017 as CEO and is responsible for the coordination and direction of the Management Executive Committee and the Athora Group subsidiaries. He is a Member of the Board of Directors of Athora Belgium SA/NV, Athora Lebensversicherung AG and Athora Life Re Ltd. 

Michele was formerly Managing Director and Head of Morgan Stanley’s European Insurance and Pensions business as well as being responsible for Morgan Stanley’s reinsurance operations globally. He joined Morgan Stanley in 2010 and also led the Fixed Income Capital Markets division in Italy. 

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley he was employed by Nomura Holdings, Inc. from 2008 to 2010, where he co-ran the Insurance business for Europe, Japan and Asia.  From 2003 to 2008, he worked with Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. where he held various senior roles covering Italian and other European Insurance companies on the asset-side as well as capital management, DCM/ECM and reinsurance solutions. 

Before joining Lehman Brothers, he held senior roles at JPMorgan and Credit Suisse First Boston.

Michele holds a B.Sc. (cum laude) in Economics, Statistics and Social Sciences from Università Bocconi Milano.

Eric was appointed Regional CEO – Belgium & Germany in June 2020 and is a member of the Management Executive Committee. He is responsible for Athora’s insurance operations in Belgium and Germany. He is Chairman of the Supervisory Boards of Athora Lebensversicherung AG and Athora Pensionkasse AG in Germany, and Chairman of the Board of Athora Belgium SA/NV.

Eric joined Athora in March 2018, having initially worked as an advisor to Athora from June 2017 on transactions in the Belgian market. Prior to Athora, Eric was Managing Director and Global Head of Financial Institution in Global Markets at Société Générale Corporate Investment Banking (SGCIB) in London. He joined SGCIB in 2008 in the Fixed Income Global Markets as Head of Illiquid Asset Distribution. Prior to that, Eric founded Aleva Ltd in 2006, a UK pension buy-out company. From 1996 to 2006, Eric worked at JPMorgan, London as Managing Director, European Head of Insurance Pension and Head of Fixed Income for Belgium, France and Luxembourg, and previously in Paris as General Manager of J.P.Morgan & Cie S.A. in charge of Global Markets. Before JPMorgan, Eric worked at Credit Commercial de France as Head of Bond Syndication, and at Banque Indosuez in Internal Audit.

Eric holds a degree in engineering from the Ecole Polytechnique in Palaiseau, France.

Henrik is Group Head of Balance Sheet Management at Athora and is responsible for reinsurance, capital and the group balance sheet. He is a Member of the Athora Life Re Ltd., Athora Ireland plc and Athora Belgium SA/NV Boards of Directors.

He was one of the co‐founders of RMR Advisors Ltd, a firm providing insurance related advisory services to Apollo, Athene and their affiliates. RMR Advisors was acquired by Athene in 2016, and formed the beginning of what is today Athora. Prior to that, Henrik worked at UBS in its Financial Institutions Group Investment Banking division, and in FICC Structuring.

Henrik holds a BSc degree from the Norwegian School of Economics & Business Administration (NHH) in Bergen, Norway.

Lukas is Group Chief Risk Officer at Athora with responsibility for risk management across the group. He is a Member of the Board of Directors of Athora Lebensversicherung AG and Athora Ireland plc.

Lukas joined Athora in September 2018 from MetLife where he was most recently CRO for its operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to that he was a partner at Oliver Wyman’s European insurance practice where he led the financial risk group. He has also held a number of consulting roles.

Lukas has published widely on topics such as financial risk management, economic capital, and hedging financial guarantees, and presents regularly at international industry forums and seminars.

He has an MSc in Theoretical Physics, is a qualified actuary (Aktuar DAV), and has professional qualifications in financial analysis (CFA) and in risk management (PRM).

Ralf is Group General Counsel at Athora with responsibility for legal and compliance across the group. He is Member of the Management Board at Athora Deutschland Holding GmbH & Co. KG as well as a Member of the Athora Belgium SA/NV Boards of Directors.

Ralf has more than 13 years of experience in corporate M&A at international law firms such as DLA Piper and Dewey & LeBoeuf and within the Investment Banking division of Citigroup. 

A German qualified lawyer, Ralf also holds an honours degree from Frankfurt’s Goethe University.

Tom joined Athora in March 2020 to serve as Group CFO and a member of the Management Executive Committee. He is responsible for Finance, Actuarial, Tax, Treasury, Balance Sheet Management and Corporate Control functions across the group.

From 2014 to 2019, Tom was Group CFO and an executive director of Aviva plc in London. Tom spent the prior 20+ years based in New York as an investment banker advising banks, insurers, and asset managers on M&A, corporate financings, and restructurings, most recently leading Blackstone’s global financial institutions practice from 2008 to 2014. He commenced his career in 1987 as a credit analyst and asset-based lender with PNC Bank in Philadelphia, and worked as a corporate and securities lawyer with Cravath, Swaine & Moore from 1992 to 1994. Tom currently serves as a Senior Advisor to McKinsey & Company.

He received a JD with honours from the University of Chicago Law School and a BA with Distinction in Economics from Swarthmore College, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and a McCabe.

Christian Thimann is CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of Athora Deutschland Group and is responsible for Athora’s overall activities in Germany.

Prior to Athora, Christian was Group Head of Strategy at AXA Group in Paris from 2014 until 2016 and a Member of the Group Executive Committee where he coordinated AXA’s global strategy in life insurance, general insurance and asset management. Christian was also a Member of the Board of Directors at AXA’s asset managers, Alliance Bernstein Investment and AXA Investment Managers. He was also responsible for matters concerning European and international insurance regulation.

Christian also worked in an executive position at the European Central Bank until 2013, most recently as Director General. Christian has also been Chairman of the EU High-level Group on Sustainable Finance and is a special adviser to the European Commission on financial regulation.

Claudius Vievers was appointed CEO Insurance Operations at Athora Deutschland Service GmbH in May 2020 and is responsible for the operational business including actuarial, risk management, HR and strategic projects. He is also Chairman of the Management Board of Athora Deutschland Service GmbH and CRO and Spokesperson of the Management Boards of Athora Lebensversicherung AG and Athora Pensionskasse AG.

Claudius has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, particularly in the areas of financial control, risk management and actuarial. After working for WestLB for 6 years, he moved to the insurance industry in 2000. In addition to his work in financial controlling he was involved in various strategic group projects at Generali Deutschland. Claudius was CRO at Generali Deutschland from 2007 and R+V Group from 2012, where he led the integration of R+V’s risk management function with that of DZ Bank Group. He joined Athora Germany in 2018 as Chief Risk Officer.

Claudius holds a degree in business administration and has a PhD in Economics and Social Sciences.

Heinz-Jürgen was appointed CFO at Athora Lebensversicherung AG and Athora Pensionskasse AG in May 2010 and is responsible for accounting, finance, financial control, procurement and taxes. He is a member of the Athora Deutschland Holding GmbH & Co. KG and Athora Deutschland Service GmbH management boards.

Heinz-Jürgen has more than 30 years of management experience in the insurance and finance industry with a focus on international accounting.

He holds a degree in Business Administration from Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster, Germany.

Stefan Kropp was appointed Chief Operating Officer at Athora Deutschland Service GmbH in May 2020 and is responsible for business operations covering IT, Customer Service, Business Organisation and Mortgages. He is also a member of the Management Boards of Athora Deutschland Holding GmbH & Co. KG and Athora Deutschland Service GmbH.

Stefan has more than 20 years of management experience at Athora, including previous roles as Head of HR and Head of Customer Service. In particular, he has focused on the optimisation and automation of processes; the successful implementation of related projects and has supported strategic projects during his time at Athora.

Stefan studied Economics at the University of Applied Sciences in Mainz, graduating with a degree in Business Administration.

Tadhg was appointed CEO at Athora Ireland in July 2018. Prior to that, he was Chief Financial Officer at Athora Ireland.

Tadhg joined Athora Ireland as Head of Actuarial in 2008, and has also held the roles of Head of Solvency II, Director of Reporting  and Deputy CFO in Athora Ireland. He has 20 years’ experience in the Irish and cross-border life insurance industry and prior to joining Aegon, he was a senior manager in the High Net Worth division of Irish Life & Permanent plc.

Tadhg is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland and a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries & Faculty of Actuaries. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Actuarial & Financial Studies from University College Dublin.

Cyrille was appointed Head of Business Development, Reinsurance at Athora in March 2020.

Before joining Athora, Cyrille was Head of Risk Structuring - Financial Solutions Life at Munich Re. Prior to this he held roles as Portfolio Manager at Crédit Agricole CIB, and Fund Manager at Oddo AM.

A graduate of ENSTA (Paris) and Pierre and Marie Curie University (Paris), Cyrille holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics from the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (Paris).

Joao joined Athora Ireland as CRO in January 2020.

An accomplished senior leader with over 15 years’ experience in the international banking and insurance sector, Joao was most recently Group Head of Financial Risk & ALM at Aviva plc. He has also held senior leadership roles at Barclays Bank and Morgan Stanley

Joao holds a Master’s degree in European Business from ESCP Business School in Paris.

Renato was appointed Head of Third-Party Reinsurance at Athora in March 2018.

Prior to that, he was Head of Financial Solutions EMEA at SCOR Global Life. Renato started his actuarial career in 1987 in Canada and he has worked in North America, Asia and Europe for direct insurers, consultants and two reinsurers (Swiss Re and SCOR).

Renato is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and holds an MBA from the University of Rochester.

Amy joined Athora Life Re as CEO in January 2018 where she also holds the position of CRO. Amy is responsible for the overall direction of Athora Life Re and risk oversight of the business.

Prior to Athora, Amy was Head of Corporate Projects at Legal & General in London, and was CRO and Corporate Actuary at Hannover Life Reassurance Bermuda Ltd. During her time in the UK and Bermuda, she has specialised in capital management, actuarial valuation and international reinsurance.

Amy holds a Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science from The London School of Economics and is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

Joelina is General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Athora Life Re and is responsible for legal and compliance.  

Joelina has extensive experience in the Bermuda (re)insurance industry. Prior to Athora, she was Vice President, Associate General Counsel at Allied World Assurance Company Ltd where she had responsibility for legal and compliance matters for the group’s Bermuda operations. Prior to that, Joelina was Counsel at Appleby (Bermuda) Limited where she advised on all aspects of corporate, commercial, regulatory and (re)insurance transactional matters.

Joelina holds a Bachelor of Arts (cum laude) with majors in Anthropology and International Development Studies from Saint Mary’s University, Halifax; a Graduate Diploma in Law (CPE) from City, University of London and a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice from BPP Law School, London. She has been a member of the Bermuda Bar Association since 2002.

Ken is Chief Reinsurance Marketing Actuary at Athora Life Re and is responsible for third-party and internal reinsurance.

Ken was previously with Hannover Life Re Bermuda where he was responsible for the marketing, structuring and implementation of structured reinsurance solutions, as well as for general business development. He has wide-ranging experience in traditional and non-traditional reinsurance worldwide with extensive technical knowledge and solid understanding of actuarial and financial concepts.

Ken holds a Ph.D. in Economics and a Master’s degree in Financial Mathematics from Dresden University of Technology, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Université Caen Normandie. He is a Fellow of the German Actuarial Society.

Wendy is Chief Actuary at Athora Life Re.

Wendy has extensive actuarial experience focusing on product development, pricing and investments. Previously, she was Vice President, Global Acquisitions at Reinsurance Group of America. She led pricing and due diligence activities and worked with clients to allocate risks, increase deal certainty and create value. Prior to that, Wendy was Assistant Vice President, Investment Strategy at Manulife / John Hancock where she developed investment strategies for insurance businesses with assets under management exceeding CAD 100 billion. 

Wendy holds a Bachelor of Mathematics, Honors Actuarial Science with a Computer Science Minor from the University of Waterloo. She is a fellow of the Society of Actuaries.

Dorsan was appointed CEO of Athora Belgium in November 2018 and is responsible for the coordination and direction of the Athora Belgium Executive Committee.

Dorsan joined Athora Belgium in 2015 as Director of Life Insurance Sales; he was later appointed Chief Distribution Officer before being appointed CEO in November 2018. He has wide-ranging expertise in insurance and lengthy experience in the financial services sector.  Dorsan began his career at Accenture and, prior to joining Athora Belgium, he held a number of management positions with various companies across the financial services industry including at Callataÿ & Wouters (now Sopra Banking Software), Citigroup and Delta Lloyd Life.

Dorsan holds a Master’s degree in Financial Management from Vlerick Management School and has completed an Executive Programme in Management and Philosophy at Solvay Business School.

Bjorn was appointed Chief Financial Officer at Athora Belgium in 2020 and is responsible for Finance and Investments.

Bjorn has extensive financial services experience including auditing at KPMG; Financial Planning & Analysis at FedEx EMEA; and several years at AXA Belgium in general expense management and cost allocation. He was CFO at AXA Ukraine from 2013 to 2017, after which he completed assignments at Belfius, Euroclear and Mauritius Insurance. Prior to joining Athora, he was CFO at Lineas (formerly SNCB Logistics).

Bjorn has a Master’s degree from ICHEC Brussels Management School.

*Subject to regulatory approval

Franck was appointed Chief Operating Officer at Athora Belgium in 2014 and Director Life in 2018. He is responsible for the oversight of operations and life insurance.

Franck joined Athora Belgium in 2010 as Chief Information Officer and was appointed COO in 2014. He was also appointed Director Life in 2018. He has wide-ranging expertise in insurance and vast experience in the banking sector. Before joining Athora Belgium, he was Chief Architect at ING Belgium.

Franck has a Master’s degree in Commercial Sciences from ICHEC, and Master's degrees in Applied Sciences and IT from UC Louvain. 

Igotz joined Athora Belgium as Chief Risk Officer in 2019 and is responsible for risk management.

Prior to Athora, Igotz was at Allianz Partners in Paris, most recently as Corporate Actuarial Director. Before that, he assisted Deloitte Belgium clients with risk and actuarial topics, and helped the industry to finalise Solvency II at the European level.

Igotz is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (UK), the Institute of Actuaries (Belgium) and the Institut des Actuaires (France). He is also a member of the International Actuarial Association (IAA) and the Actuarial Association of Europe (AAE). He has an MBA from the Henley Business School and an MSc in Actuarial Science from University Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallé.

Tom Kliphuis was appointed CEO of VIVAT in April 2020. Prior to this, he was chairman of the Board of Directors for the Coöperatie VGZ from 2014. Tom started his career at ING / Nationale Nederlanden and worked in various management positions. From 2000 to 2011, he was responsible for the insurance and pension activities at ING Insurance in Mexico, Chile and Central and Southern Europe. Tom was CEO Insurance at ING Benelux from 2011 to 2013.

Formerly a Managing Director in Athora’s M&A team before joining VIVAT, Angelo led the management of the VIVAT transaction for Athora. Prior to Athora, he worked in the Financial Institutions Group at the M&A division of UBS and Greenhill & Co and as a Credit Analyst in the European insurance team of Standard & Poor’s credit ratings. In the early part of his career, Angelo worked as a management consultant with a focus on the financial services industry.

Angelo holds a Master’s degree in Corporate Communications with Economics from Università degli Studi, Siena and is a certified Chartered Financial Analyst.

Stefan was CEO Insurance Operations at Athora Germany before joining VIVAT. Stefan has significant operational and financial services experience garnered over many years as Global Head of Industries at Willis Towers Watson, CEO UK & Ireland at BearingPoint and Partner at A.T. Kearney.

Stefan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics & Political Science from Indiana University, Bloomington and a Master’s degree from Columbia University, New York.

Yinhua started his career in financial services in 1998 at PwC where he was the lead audit partner for large insurance and asset management companies. In this role, he was also involved in various finance and solvency consulting programmes for insurers. His last position with PwC was as Partner of the Financial Service Group. At Anbang, Yinhua commenced as managing director of Anbang Asset Management Hong Kong and Finance Director of the Anbang Insurance Group.

Yinhua Cao has a Bachelor’s degree in International Finance from the Shanghai University of Economics and Finance.