Reinsurance Faculty Advisory Board

Andrew Davidson is a Senior Client Underwriter for Swiss Re, based in Sydney with a broad array of experience both on the Products and Client facing side of the business.

Andrew’s reinsurance career has spanned Life reinsurance, Investments and Non-Life reinsurance. In his time at Swiss Re he has held many roles including Head of Treaty Property, ANZ, Head of Swiss Re Malaysia, Head of Business Development ANZ and Head of Public Sector, ANZ. Currently Andrew’s primary focus is upon the overall account relationships with a number of key clients to Swiss Re.  Andrew has worked in Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Singapore, Sydney and Zurich for the Group. 

Andrew holds a Bachelor of Economics from Macquarie University.  He is a Fellow of the Australia & New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance.

Tani started in the industry in 2003 with a graduate position at Munich Re based in Sydney. After the graduate program, she commenced a formal role with Munich Re as a Casualty Treaty Underwriter based in Sydney and after a few years, as Treaty Underwriter in Princeton, New Jersey, USA. 

In 2009 she started as a Treaty Underwriter at Swiss Re. Tani worked at Swiss Re for 7 years working as a Senior Casualty Treaty Underwriter in Sydney and looking at alternative risk solutions across Asia Pacific.

Her current role at Berkley Re is Casualty Treaty Manager, and she has been with Berkley Re for 6 years.

Stephen has over 17 years of experience in both the international and local reinsurance markets and is currently a Treaty Account Executive for Gen Re, based in Sydney. His  responsibility includes managing all aspects of Treaty Client relationships, for Australia and New Zealand, on some of the most strategic and complex accounts.

Stephen started his career at NRMA Reinsurance in Underwriting and Claims, working on both inwards / outwards national and international reinsurance.

He occupied senior broking roles for Aon Re in Sydney and Blanch Crawley Warren in London, facilitating the broking of major national and international accounts into Australian, Asian, London (both Company and Lloyds) and North American clients and markets. It was during this time that he learned some of the key skills of product management, structuring, program design and placement strategy.

Mr Brunker is a graduate of UTS holding a Bachelor of Business and is a Fellow and Certified Insurance Professional (CIP) of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance, serving also as a lecturer and examiner for this organisation. He is also Lloyds Market Qualilfied broker.

Jurgen has over 35 years’ experience in the finance sector, and most recently held the position of Head of Insurance Risk at the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) for 7 years.

Prior to APRA, Jurgen held senior positions within the insurance industry and has worked for companies such as Allianz, Gerling and QBE. He also lectured at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) for 8 years on Reinsurance, and is a strong supporter of continuous education. Jurgen recently formalised his love of training by completing the Diploma of Training and Development and is currently teaching at TAFE, NSW.

Attending RISC as a participant in 1984, Jurgen returned to RISC as a Syndicate Advisor in 1997 and has maintained that role ever since. In 1998 he also presented at RISC for the first time, and joined the RISC Organising Committee in 2006. Jurgen continues to present and offer his time as a Syndicate Advisor and Organising Committee member.

Jurgen also joined ANZIIF’s Reinsurance Faculty Advisory Board in 2012 and has served as a committee member of the Reinsurance Discussion Group in Sydney.

Leigh Roche is a highly experienced Client Manager, and has been with Munich Re Australasia for more than 5 years. With over 25 years’ experience in both primary Insurance and Reinsurance, Leigh is passionate about bringing colleagues together to create robust strategies and innovative solutions. She is driven to develop new profitable business, tapping into her deep understanding of the markets while keeping her clients evolving needs at the centre of all she does.

Leigh’s vast experience began in the claims environment and evolved into underwriting. She has strong expertise on all casualty classes, including Professional Indemnity, Construction Liability but predominantly General Liability before moving into Client Management. 

Leigh has previously served as an advisor on the esteemed Reinsurance International Study Course (RISC) as well as serving on the Reinsurance Discussion Group as a committee member.

Leigh’s love of learning, curiosity and tenacity has led her to another passion, and she has become a serial renovator, applying her love of problem solving to successfully completing a number of personal projects. 

Laura Wood is the Head of Reinsurance at Youi Insurance, based in Sydney. Laura brings 18 years of expertise towards her new role on the Reinsurance Faculty Advisory Board, having worked within re/insurance and broking across most of the industry’s key markets around the globe and across many lines of business.

She joined Youi Insurance in 2023 from global reinsurer Swiss Re, after an eight-year tenure with the firm. In her most recent role at Swiss Re, she served as Key Account Manager, and prior to that she was a Senior Client Manager within property & casualty (P&C) for Australia & New Zealand. Prior to joining Swiss Re, Laura has also held roles at Aon, where she held the role of Senior Actuary, Analytics, Reinsurance for Australia & New Zealand, as well as  Head of Actuarial at Odyssey Re’s London branch.

Laura holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with Finance, is a Fellow of the Institue of Actuaries, a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries Australia, and a Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary.