Swiss Re has appointed Benjamin (Ben) Savill (pictured) as chief executive of its Australia and New Zealand operation, effective October 1, subject to regulatory approval. Savill, who will be based in Sydney, joins from Guy Carpenter, where he served as CEO Pacific since April 2024.
Savill succeeds Trent Thomson, who moves to London to take on the role of global head specialty Reinsurance at Swiss Re. The position carries global responsibility across agriculture, aviation, cyber, engineering and nuclear, and marine and energy. Thomson has held the ANZ chief executive post since November 2022.
Savill brings more than 27 years of market experience, built primarily on the underwriting side before he moved into broking. He began his career in London at Amlin, where he spent approximately 18 years, ultimately serving as head of North American treaty reinsurance in Bermuda.
He subsequently became group chief underwriting officer at Fidelis and later chief underwriting officer at Convex Insurance in Bermuda. He relocated to Australia ahead of joining Guy Carpenter in Sydney in April 2024.
The appointment marks a cross-market transition, with Savill moving from leading a reinsurance broking operation to running a major reinsurer's country business. At Guy Carpenter, he oversaw the broker's Pacific operations during a period of rate softening in the region.
At the July 2026 renewals, loss-free reinsurance business in Australia and New Zealand saw risk-adjusted reductions of between 10% and 15%, according to Howden Re, as abundant global capacity and a sustained run of reinsurer profitability shifted negotiating leverage towards cedants.
Urs Baertschi, CEO P&C reinsurance at Swiss Re, said Savill's knowledge of the market and broad industry perspective would support the reinsurer's work with clients and partners in the region. Baertschi described the appointment as combining executive leadership with deep technical expertise.
Swiss Re provides both life and health and property and casualty reinsurance in Australia and New Zealand. The group has set a full-year 2026 net income target of US$4.5 billion, with property and casualty reinsurance a central contributor after the unit posted a combined ratio of 79.5% and net income of US$754 million in the first quarter.
