Swiss Re names Bachmann CEO SRILIM, as Bisping moves to CRO, Servatius now CIO

Swiss Re Insurance-Linked Investment Management Ltd. (SRILIM), one of the specialist insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund management units of the global reinsurance firm, has a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), as long-standing employee Bernard Bachmann stepped into the role this month, Artemis has learned.

Swiss Re Insurance-Linked Investment Management Ltd (SRILIM) was founded in 2020 as a fully-owned subsidiary of the reinsurer, acting as the investment manager for dedicated fund company, 1863 Fund Ltd. which includes the Core Nat Cat Fund (CNCF) strategy.

The Core Nat Cat Fund strategy provides institutional and designated professional investors a way to proportionally participate in Swiss Re’s core natural catastrophe (nat cat) reinsurance book and the 1863 Fund surpassed the milestone of US $1 billion level in assets under management last year.

Bernard Bachmann has stepped into the sole CEO role at Swiss Re Insurance-Linked Investment Management Ltd. (SRILIM) from April 2025.

Previously, Bachmann had been Chief Risk Officer and Chief Operating Officer of SRILIM from 2020 to late 2023, and then became Co-Chief Executive Officer for the ILS investment management unit alongside his COO role.

Bachmann has been employed at Swiss Re since 2010, working in investment related roles such as Head of Portfolio Analysis and Head of Investment Manager Oversight at the reinsurance company up to the formation of SRILIM.

Prior to joining the reinsurer, Bachmann was the Head of Operational Due Diligence at investment firm Man Group for 5 years, and prior to that worked at KPMG.

With Bachmann’s promotion to the sole CEO position at Swiss Re Insurance-Linked Investment Management Ltd. (SRILIM), there have been other key changes at the top.

Martin Bisping, long-standing insurance-linked securities (ILS) leadership executive at Swiss Re, has now transitioned into the role of Chief Risk Officer (CRO) for SRILIM.

Bisping has worked at Swiss Re since 1994, originally as a natural catastrophe reinsurance specialist, then becoming head of the Atmospheric Perils Group in 1999 and transferring to the Financial Services Business Group in 2001.

Bisping worked in key roles at Swiss Re, including as Head of Non-Life Risk Transformation, where he led retrocession and risk syndication activity at the company, responsible for all strategic group P&C protections, including sidecars, insurance-linked securities (ILS), catastrophe bonds and other hedging instruments. He also held a senior leadership role in Swiss Re’s Capital Markets team.

At SRILIM, Bisping was originally Chief Executive Officer  and then became Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer as a succession planning process was put into action.

Now, with Bisping stepping into the Chief Risk Officer role, Philipp Servatius has been promoted to become Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of the ILS management unit.

Servatius had been Head Portfolio Management at SRILIM since 2022, prior to which he was a Senior Product Manager in Swiss Re’s Public Sector Solutions unit, based in Singapore. He has worked at Swiss Re for over 11 years, including in roles as an underwriter of parametric weather derivatives underwriter.

In response to a request for comment, Swiss Re told us, “As part of our succession plan, Martin Bisping hands over his Chief Investment Officer (CIO) responsibilities to Philipp Servatius. Philipp has been the Head of Portfolio Management at SRILIM for almost three years and knows the portfolio thoroughly. He was employed by Swiss Re Group for over a decade before that.

“Bernard Bachmann assumes the role of the sole Chief Executive Officer (CEO). We are pleased that SRILIM will continue to benefit from Martin’s experience in his new role as Chief Risk Officer (CRO).”