Lippe to Retire in 2012

Swiss Re CEO Stefan Lippe will retire sometime next year after approximately 30 years with the company, the reinsurer said today.

According to the Wall Street Journal, his likely successor will be Christian Mumenthaler, head of the flagship reinsurance division, although company sources confirm a search is underway that will include the evaluation of both internal and external candidates.

Swiss Re, through spokesman Tom Armitage, declined to comment and said it will name a successor early next year.

Lippe is, by all accounts, choosing early retirement. Now age 56, he was promoted to the CEO position in 2009, at a time when the company was hit with the U.S. mortgage crisis. Lippe has been lauded for helping to bring the reinsurer's balance sheet back to health by steering the repayment of a loan to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and thereby obtaining a double-A rating.

Several in the industry believe Mumenthaler to be the internal candidate of choice. Mumenthaler joined Swiss Re in 1999, currently serves as a member of the executive committee, and heads Swiss Re’s reinsurance division, which comprises approximately 80 percent of the company's operations.