Group Executive Board
Andreas Brandstetter, 54
has been a member of the Management Board since 2002 and its Chairman since 2011. Before joining UNIQA, he was head of the EU office of the Austrian Raiffeisen Association in Brussels. He holds a doctorate in political science having studied in Vienna and the USA and completed an Executive MBA at California State University, Hayward/IMADEC. Andreas Brandstetter completed his postgraduate studies at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Harvard Business School. In 2018, he was elected for a three-year term as President of Insurance Europe, the representative body of European insurance and reinsurance in Brussels, and his mandate was extended for another three years in 2021.
Peter Eichler, 62
has worked as a member of the Management Board at various Group companies since 1999 and has been responsible for personal insurance and asset management for the entire Group since 2020. He is Chairman of the Health and Life Insurance segments at the Austrian Insurance Association (VVO). In addition to studying commercial sciences, Peter Eichler also studied law at the University of Vienna. He graduated from the University of St. Gallen and Harvard Business School executive programmes.
Wolf-Christoph Gerlach, 44
has been responsible for the Operations department since 2020. A graduate in business administration, he began his career with the Allianz Group before joining UNIQA’s International Bancassurance in 2008 and subsequently headed the department of Group Strategy from 2010 until 2012. He then served as Chief Operations Officer of our Romanian subsidiary for four years, before joining the Management Board for Retail at UNIQA Hungary in 2016. Wolf-Christoph Gerlach completed his postgraduate studies at Harvard Business School.
Peter Humer, 52
has been responsible for the function Customers & Markets Austria since January 2020. With a doctorate in social and economic sciences, he started his professional career at UNIQA in 1996 in sales, followed by various national and international positions within the Group. In 2009, Peter Humer took over the role of Regional Director in Salzburg, and in 2017, he was appointed Member of the Management Board for Sales at UNIQA Österreich Versicherungen AG. He completed further studies at Harvard Business School in 2019.
Wolfgang Kindl, 57
has been a member of the Management Board since 2011 and is responsible for Customers & Markets International. Wolfgang Kindl has worked for the UNIQA Group since 1996, managing our subsidiary in Geneva from 2000 to 2004 and acting as Managing Director of UNIQA International from 2005. When he was appointed to the Group Management Board in 2011, he was also appointed Chairman of the Management Board of UNIQA International. With a doctorate in social sciences and economics, he graduated from a postgraduate programme in environmental management. He also completed postgraduate studies at the IMD in Lausanne and at Harvard Business School.
René Knapp, 41
has been a member of the Management Board since January 2020 and is responsible for People, Brand and Sustainability. The mathematics graduate and recognised actuary began his career at UNIQA in 2007 and took over responsibility for the life insurance actuarial department in 2010. He became head of Group Actuarial in 2012, a role that was expanded in 2015 to include Group Risk Management. In addition to his activities for UNIQA, René Knapp is not only committed to the actuarial profession as a member of the Management Board of AVÖ, but has also held numerous guest professorships at Austrian universities. He also completed executive programmes at Harvard Business School and the Sloan School of Management (MIT).
Erik Leyers, 54
has been a member of the Management Board since 2015 and is responsible for the Data & IT department. The doctor of economics began his professional career in Munich before joining McKinsey in 2001 as a consultant and project manager. He held an executive position at the Allianz Group from 2003 onwards, where he was responsible for business development, shared services and global non-IT and IT procurement. Erik Leyers also completed postgraduate studies at Harvard Business School.
Sabine Pfeffer, 51
took over as head of Customers & Markets Bancassurance Austria in April 2023 and has since been responsible for the Raiffeisen Insurance Austria brand. The graduate in Business Administration, who has also completed a Master’s degree in Legal Studies as well as a university course in Insurance Management at the WU Executive Academy, has more than 20 years of management experience in the insurance industry. Most recently, she managed the personal insurance administration department at Wiener Städtische Versicherung AG.
Kurt Svoboda, 56
has been responsible for finance and risk management on the Group Management Board since July 2011. He was also CEO of UNIQA Österreich Versicherungen AG from December 2017 until June 2020. He began his career at KPMG Austria GmbH in 1992, before joining the Group as Managing Director of UNIQA Finanz-Service GmbH in 2003 after holding management positions at insurance companies. Kurt Svoboda studied business administration, specialising in international taxation and insurance management, and completed an international management course at the University of St. Gallen, as well as postgraduate studies at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Harvard Business School.