Benoit Goureau (pictured) has taken over as director of Mapfre Re's Brussels Management Center, effective September 15. He replaces Bernard Chanteux, who is leaving the company.
Goureau joined Mapfre Re's Paris office in June 2024 as a non-life treaty and claims underwriter and was promoted to senior reinsurance underwriter in April 2025. Before Mapfre Re, he spent nearly a decade at Beazley's Paris office, where he joined in 2015 as reinsurance treaty underwriter for the French market. He brings more than 20 years of experience across reinsurance underwriting and broker management.
The Brussels office has been part of Mapfre Re's European network since 1989, when the reinsurer acquired CIAR in Belgium to establish its continental presence. It sits within the EMEA region under Mark Meyerhoff, whose remit was formalised as part of a wider reorganisation of Mapfre Re's global operations in early 2025. Goureau will report to Meyerhoff in the role.
The appointment comes as Mapfre Re manages a softening reinsurance market that is compressing premium volumes across its European book. The reinsurer's first-half 2026 premiums totalled more than €4.3 billion, down 1.5% year over year, with management attributing the decline to rate reductions across the market. Net earnings for the period reached €186 million, up 24.6%, supported by improved underwriting discipline and a 95.2% combined ratio.
The EMEA region recorded a net loss of €5 million in the first half, driven by reserve buildup in Italy and hyperinflation adjustments in Turkey. Belgium is unaffected by those pressures, but the regional context shows why Mapfre Re's European office leadership is being watched in the current cycle.
