Ivana Stark heads UNIQA Re, the reinsurance arm of UNIQA in Zurich, which was founded 20 years ago. "It never gets boring," she says of her dream job, because risk management is not possible without flexibility and foresight.
Very well summarised, as a young and ambitious adult we are more than ready to explore the world and as part of the UNIQA family all doors are open to us.
We are a small, international team consisting of various experts. We have external and internal clients as well as partners worldwide. We are based in Switzerland and regulated there by FinMa. There is a huge range of tasks to cover, such as Legal, Compliance, Accounting, Claims, Underwriting, Actuarial, ALM, Risk Management and so on. It never gets boring, so you have to be willing to be very flexible with us as the areas of responsibility can change quickly. You must be a good team player, because only as a team can we achieve anything. The goal is to find solutions to challenges, and for that you have to be willing to think outside the box. We are here for our clients and partners! Go the extra mile – our motto!
After 20 years in reinsurance, it's still my dream job. There is no standstill, it's constant change, you have to keep developing, it stays exciting. I deal with interesting and intelligent people from all over the world, both internally and externally. At UNIQA Re I have also found a great home, it makes me proud to be a part of UNIQA. We have many outstanding people, honest company goals and fun, even when it gets stressful.
It is always nice to be in Vienna and in the UNIQA Tower, but there is absolutely no disadvantage to not being in the headquarters. We are very well networked with our colleagues in Vienna and the entire UNIQA Group and have regular exchanges, including in person.
We will have to manage many different challenges and learn from the current hot topics and megatrends for the future and recognise potentials, use opportunities. A favourite trend for me is health, it emotionalises and creates reactions and where there are reactions, there is change.
As a reinsurer, UNIQA Re advises the insurance companies of the UNIQA Group on questions of reinsurance in the life and non-life areas. In addition, UNIQA Re is responsible for, coordinates and designs internal and external reinsurance relationships for our company and thereby contributes to optimising the use of risk capital.
Trends correlate strongly and form synergies and counter-trends, you can hardly look at them individually. Potential risks of these megatrends are extremely difficult to quantify and can have a significant impact on claims and investments. Without a clear understanding of these risks, risk management is not possible. So the biggest challenge for us is to very quickly identify and analyse these changing risks and, where necessary, define and implement appropriate reinsurance concepts for the group. But with risks often come opportunities, new business opportunities.
We will have to manage many different challenges and learn from the current hot topics and megatrends for the future and recognise potentials, use opportunities. A favourite trend for me is health, it emotionalises and creates reactions and where there are reactions, there is change. Healthcare in the emerging markets has huge catch-up potential and, I believe, still receives too little attention.
Forty is the best age, now things are really starting to happen. Experience makes you smart. With all our experience and knowledge, we will support UNIQA on its continued successful journey, and together we will master all the challenges that time brings.
Ivana Stark has been CEO of UNIQA Re since June 2022. She was most recently with QIC Global as Global Head of International Property and Engineering. There she was responsible, among other things, for the development and management of the Group's USD 400 million business portfolio. Her career started at Hannover Re as Actuarial Support in the Underwriting Department, led her to Helvetia Insurance and then to Novae Re as Senior Underwriter, until she finally moved to QIC.
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