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SCOR announces the establishment of its dedicated investment management company, SCOR Global Investments. This is the Group’s third operating unit alongside SCOR Global P&C and SCOR Global Life.
This new entity will be in charge of managing the global investment portfolio of all the Group’s legal entities. SCOR Global Investments will implement the Group’s investment strategy as determined by the Group Investment Committee, headed by Group Chairman and CEO Denis Kessler.
SCOR Global Investments will be regulated by the French Autorité des Marchés Financiers (“AMF”) and expects to receive its authorization from the AMF in early 2009.
The new company is headed by François de Varenne, a member of the Group Executive Committee, who leaves his post as SCOR’s Chief Operating Officer to become Chief Executive Officer of SCOR Global Investments. Michèle Lacroix is appointed Chief Investment Officer.
Denis Kessler comments: “SCOR Global Investments becomes SCOR’s third operating pillar alongside SCOR Global P&C and SCOR Global Life, and will constitute a key element in the Group’s value creation by making important ongoing financial contributions to its results. SCOR Global Investments will pursue the Group’s strict and conservative asset management policy.”
At the end of June 2008, SCOR’s total investments stood at EUR 18.5 billion, including funds withheld by cedants amounting to EUR 7.2 billion. In today’s challenging market environment, SCOR adheres to a very prudent investment policy. Investments at 30 June 2008 consisted of bonds (38%, of which 67% in AAA securities), cash and equivalents (14%), funds held by cedants (39%), equities (5%), alternative investments (2%) and real estate (2%).
François de Varenne, 42, joined SCOR in October 2005 and has been a member of the Group Executive Committee since September 2007. After several years at the Féderation Française des Sociétés d’Assurances (FFSA), he worked in various different financial institutions in London (Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank) and Paris (Gimar France & Cie). He is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, with a PhD in Finance. He is also a qualified actuary with a diploma from the Institut de Science Financière et d’Assurances (ISFA). François de Varenne is the author of several books and publications in the field of finance and insurance.
Michèle Lacroix, 44, joined SCOR in September 2008. A graduate of HEC, she spent several years as a banking broker with Anjou Courtage and then as a portfolio manager at Legal & General Asset Management, before becoming Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the latter.
