Wolfgang Held

Head of Actuary & Appointed Actuary for SWISS LIFE - Insurance

Garching, Bavaria, Germany

About

A commercially orientated business leader and member of the leadership/executive team of the Standard Life branch in Germany. Almost 10 years experience in leadership roles within the Financial Service sector including international experience in various organisational structures. Background as an actuary with almost 15 years of work experience in actuarial and in financial/commercial Topics. Main areas of expertise include: Leadership / Management Value added management Embedded Value / New business Value Budgeting, planning and controlling Actuarial Model Development Best Estimate assumption setting Financial reporting Governance and financial controls Efficiency improvements and cost reductions Product and profitability enhancements Financial risk management Development the strategic agenda

Experience

  • Head of Actuarial Department & Appointed Actuary at SWISS LIFE - Insurance
    Sep 2014 - Present · 11 yrs 11 mos

    • Leading the actuarial department with approximatly 35 member of staff • Responsible for Valuation Reporting (MCEV & VNB, insurance liabilities for German GAAP & IFRS, SII and Swiss Solvency Test including actuarial models & tools, best estimate assumption process, reinsurance) • appointed actuary for the German Swiss Life Branch: responsible of all kind of German actuarial supervisory & regulatory stuff

  • Standard Life (Frankfurt am Main und Umgebung, Deutschland)
    • Head of Finance / Finance Director
      Jul 2011 - Mar 2014 · 2 yrs 9 mos

      • Member of German Executive Team • Responsible for all of Finance with 35 staff (performance monitoring, embedded value, new business value, pricing, accounting & financial controls, financial reporting, business planning & forecasting, budgeting & controlling, best estimate assumptions, management information system) • Financial and commercial input to determine the strategic direction for the German Branch, including a strategic review of the German business to improve profitability (including reduction of costs) • Successful implementation of relevant parts of Solvency II for the German branch • Restructure of the German Finance teams • Improvement of reporting processes as well as systems improvements • Collaboration with Head Office / Group in UK

    • Manager Actuarial Reporting & Controlling
      Jan 2008 - Jun 2011 · 3 yrs 6 mos

      • Managing teams of 10 members of staff • Responsible for added-value management and performance management (mostly new business value, embedded value, IFRS operating profit) • Restructure of financial budget & forecasting process for the German & Irish branch • Improvement of best-estimate assumptions process and models (non-economic) • Consulting the management team regarding key performance indicators and profit levers • Implementation a programme to achieve a wide range of unit price correction of several investment funds including the entire related customer communication

  • Verantwortlicher Aktuar at Delta Lloyd
    Jul 2008 - Dec 2008 · 6 mos

    • Role as chief actuary • Managing the actuarial department of up to 20 members of staff • In addition to the role as appointed actuary, accountable for actuarial practice regarding German GAAP (HGB), reinsurance strategy, embedded value calculation, ALM and monitoring product profitability • consulting the executive team in all kind of actuarial and financial risk topics

  • Manager Product Controlling at Standard Life Versicherung
    Jan 2003 - Jun 2008 · 5 yrs 6 mos

    • Preparation of the business plans and forecasts • Calculation of European Embedded Value and new business value • Reported financial KPI, financial support and advice to the management team • Provided actuarial data for accounting purposes as well as for strategic decisions • Setting up of Finance processes, controls, models, projections and performance management for a new added value management approach • Managed projects and owned work packages/work streams within a wider range of projects • Analysed and monitored operational expenses and profitability Highlight: • Built teams from scratch for embedded value calculations and business planning

  • Product Development at Standard Life
    Nov 1999 - Dec 2002 · 3 yrs 2 mos

    • Developed and improved insurance products and business transactions, with implementation and maintenance into the internal calculation engine • Prepared technical product specifications • Trainer for product related topics, training for in-house staff