Walter B. Kielholz, honorary chairman of Swiss Re Ltd (Swiss Re), has been awarded the Honorary Citizen Award, which was conferred by the president of Singapore Halimah Yacob.
The award is the highest form of recognition bestowed by the Singapore government for outstanding contributions by an individual to the country's growth and development. It is conferred on those who have made a significant impact in the areas of business, science and technology, information communications, education, health, arts and culture, sports, tourism, community services or security.
Kielholz was previously non-executive chairman of Swiss Re from 2009 to 2021. He served as CEO from 1997 to 2002, and subsequently as vice chairman from 2003 to 2009. During his stewardship.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) noted Kielholz particular support of expanding the company's presence in the jurisdiction.
"In January 2018, Swiss Re established its Asia-Pacific regional headquarters in Singapore to support the growth of the region's insurance markets and provide risk financing solutions to Asia. Swiss Re's choice of Singapore as the location for its regional headquarters has significantly strengthened Singapore's reinsurance ecosystem and capabilities to serve Asia's needs."
"Under Mr Kielholz's leadership, Swiss Re actively supported various industry initiatives in Singapore, such as Project Veritas. Under Project Veritas, Swiss Re co-developed and applied a fairness assessment methodology for insurance predictive underwriting, which utilises artificial intelligence and data analytics. Swiss Re was also part of the insurance industry workgroup convened in 2019 that co-developed the Environmental Risk Management Guidelines for Insurers with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and is an anchor partner of the Global-Asia Insurance Partnership (GAIP)."
"Mr Kielholz was one of the longest serving members of MAS' International Advisory Panel (IAP) from 2009 to 2021, and contributed invaluable insights on the importance of investing in human capital, digitalisation, data and analytics to grow insurance markets, and enhance the competitiveness of Singapore's financial sector. In recognition of Mr Kielholz's invaluable contributions to Singapore, he was awarded the Public Service Star (Distinguished Friends of Singapore) Award in 2015."
Alongside, Kielholz, the Honorary Citizen Awardwas also conferred on professor Sir David Philip Lane. The honorary senior fellow at A*STAR and its previous chief scientist, was awarded for his role in the strategic development of Singapore's biomedical sciences and contributions to cancer therapeutics research.
