John R. Coomber

The CEO of U.K.-based Pension Corporation, a company that helps defined-benefit pension funds manage risk, and a former CEO of Zurich-based reinsurance company Swiss Re. Coomber has also been the owner, chairman and non-executive director of UK-based technology services company Telent and the chairman of Mactavish, a research company serving the insurance industry. Coomber began his career with Phoenix Insurance Company in 1970, then joined Swiss Re in 1973 as an actuarial trainee, becoming the company’s first non-Swiss CEO in 2003. He helped the company navigate the aftermath of 9/11, which heavily affected the insurance industry, and helped the company increase its revenue and earnings, making it the largest life reinsurance company in the world. He retired from Swiss Re in 2005.

Coomber was born in 1949 in England and educated at Nottingham University, where he majored in theoretical mechanics.Coomber is also chairman of an environmental advocacy organization called The Climate Group and a member of the Deutsche Bank Climate Advisory Panel.