
Swiss Re CorSo taps Yann Krattiger to lead Alternative Risk Transfer growth, signaling a push beyond standard insurance into parametric and ILS-based coverage.
Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, the commercial insurance arm of Swiss Re, has appointed Yann Krattiger as Head of Commercial Growth Initiatives for Alternative Risk Transfer. The company said Krattiger helped shape its ART offering over several years, contributing expertise in handling complex risk challenges.
Alternative risk transfer covers structures that move hard-to-insure exposures to capital markets. These include insurance-linked securities and parametric triggers tied to weather or economic indices that automatically pay out when a pre-defined threshold is crossed. Swiss Re CorSo said the new role was created to expand ART capabilities, identify commercial opportunities, and develop solutions beyond traditional coverage.
Krattiger will lead growth initiatives across the ART business. His remit includes coordinating global work streams, building cross-functional collaboration, developing targeted growth initiatives, and forming strategic partnerships. The company also highlighted data and analytics as a tool to strengthen risk management while creating tailored structures for complex risks across multiple industries.
Krattiger has spent more than six years at Swiss Re CorSo, most recently as Head of Alternative Risk Transfer EMEA and Head of Structured Fronting IRS. Before that he spent nearly 12 years at Allianz in underwriting and leadership roles within alternative risk transfer.
The appointment reflects a broader strategy at Swiss Re. Traditional insurance markets struggle to price emerging perils such as cyber attacks, climate-driven supply chain disruptions, and political risk because those events lack historical loss data. ART instruments can provide coverage without indemnifying actual losses. A parametric trigger, for instance, pays out automatically when a specified wind speed or rainfall threshold is crossed. That structure removes the need for a lengthy claims process and can be tied to capital market investors who want pure-catastrophe exposure.
For companies holding hard-to-hedge risks, a growing ART market could open new ways to manage balance-sheet volatility. The structures are not tied to the traditional underwriting cycle, so pricing does not rise and fall with industry-wide capital flows. The trade-off is that ART buyers must accept that payouts may not match actual financial losses – the trigger is index-based, not indemnity-based.
Krattiger's appointment comes as the broader reinsurance industry moves beyond traditional risk transfer. Several global reinsurers have built parametric platforms and insurance-linked securities teams in recent years, aiming to tap capital markets for risks that do not fit standard actuarial models. Swiss Re CorSo's new role – a dedicated commercial growth executive – suggests the company expects ART to become a larger share of its portfolio, not a side business.
The data and analytics component is central. Swiss Re CorSo said it will use data to strengthen risk management while creating tailored risk transfer structures for complex, difficult-to-hedge exposures. In practice, that means building models that can price parametric triggers for a client's specific weather or operational exposure, then find capital market investors willing to take the other side. The calibration must satisfy both sides: a payout threshold that gives the client meaningful protection and a risk premium that attracts institutional money.
For investors, the growth of ART creates a new asset class. ILS and parametric bonds offer returns that are uncorrelated with equity and credit markets, making them attractive for diversification. They carry basis risk, however: the trigger may not perfectly match the insured's loss. That basis risk is the trade-off that keeps ART from being a simple substitute for traditional insurance.
Swiss Re CorSo did not disclose growth targets or a start date for Krattiger. He reports to the head of the ART unit.
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