Board of trustees

Dr. Joachim Wenning
Chairman of the Board of Trustees

After obtaining a degree in economics at the University of Munich, he joined Munich Re in 1991. Dr. Wenning has been a Member of the Board of Management of Munich Re since 1 Januar 2009. From January 2009 to January 2017, he was responsible for the Life Division, and from October 2013 until April 2017 he was also responsible for the Human Resources division and held the position of Labour Relations Director. Dr. Wenning was appointed Chairman of the Board of Management with effect from 27 April 2017. In addition to his current responsibilities, Dr. Wenning was also responsible for Group Holdings from April 2017 to March 2019. He is currently responsible for Group Strategy and M&A; Group Communications; Group Audit; Economics, Sustainability and Public Affairs; Group Human Resources; Group Executive Affairs, and Group Compliance and Legal.

Prof. Dr. Dr. Peter Höppe
Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees

Prof. Höppe was the Head of Geo Risks Research/Corporate Climate Centre at Munich Re. Before joining Munich Re Prof. Höppe has worked in different institutes at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich and as a post doc at Yale University (USA). His academic education is in meteorology (Masters and PhD) and human biology (PhD). From 1999 to 2002 he has been the President of the International Society of Biometeorology. He is the Chairman of the Munich Climate Insurance Initiative, which he has founded in 2005. In 2007 Prof. Höppe has been appointed as Global Warming Advisor of the Bavarian State Government and Chair of the “Finance-Forum: Climate Change” of the high-tech Strategy of the German Federal Government. In 2009 he has been one of the initiators of the Desertec Industrial Initiative.  

Renate Bleich is the chair of the Munich Re Foundation. The foundation addresses major global challenges including environmental and climate change as well as disaster prevention.  Previously, she was responsible for further developing Munich Re’s sustainability strategy and putting the Goup’s activities in a wider context, e.g. the SDG’s. One particular focus of her work is on climate change. Renate holds a Master’s degree in economic geography from LMU Munich.

Nicholas Gartside was born in Warrington, United Kingdom, in 1975. Mr. Gartside commenced his professional career as a fund manager, Fixed Income, with Mercury Asset Management in London. Mr. Gartside has been a member of the Board of Management and Chief Investment Officer of Munich Reinsurance Company since 18 March 2019. He is responsible for Group Investments and Third Party Asset Management.

Dr. Doris Höpke  was born in Georgsmarienhütte. She completed her law studies at the universities of Osnabrück, Hanover and Leiden with a doctorate.  Dr. Höpke was a member of the Board of Management of Munich Reinsurance Company from 1 May 2014 to 30 April 2022. From 2017, she was responsible for the divisions Special and Financial Risks and Global Human Resources in the reinsurance field of business, including the function of Labour Relations Director.  

Prof. Dr. Claudia Kemfert  has been Head of the department Energy, Transportation, Environment at the German Institute of Economic Research (DIW Berlin) since April 2004 and Professor of Energy Economics and Sustainability at Berlin's Hertie School of Governance since 2009. She studied economics at Oldenburg, Bielefeld and Stanford University. Her research activities concentrate on the evaluation of climate and energy policy strategies. In 2016 she was appointed as a member of the German Advisory Council on the Environment and received the German-Solar-Award and the Adam-Smith-Award for Market-Based Environmental Policy.

Prof. Dr. Harald Lesch, born in Gießen, has been Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich since 1995 and Professor of Natural Philosophy at the Munich School of Philosophy since 2002. Prof. Lesch is a member of the Bavarian Climate Council. He is also known from the media, and has been involved for years as a television presenter for ZDF, as a science journalist and as an author.     

Prof. Dr. Detlef Müller-Mahn  is a professor of Human Geography at the University of Bonn, specialized in geographical development research and political ecology. His research focuses on the relationship between precarious livelihoods, social-ecological transformation and the emergence of new risks especially in Africa.